A Tribute To Freddie Lowes
History of Elbow Park - In Celebration of the 75th
Anniversary of our Community
by
Helena Szubert Ciccone
Almost a hundred years old, Elbow Park is an
unique heritage area situated on one of the most scenic sites along the Elbow
River. As an inner-city location the community is constantly struggling to find
a balance between the pressure of new development and preserving its
architectural heritage character. This year in conjunction with its 75th
Anniversary the Elbow Park Residents Association will be planning various
heritage events throughout the community. Hopefully residents will discover
some interesting insights in the role heritage plays in our society today. The
Freddie Lowes Interpretive Memorial will be one such project targeted for a
completion date by the end of this September.
On Friday, March 12th the Elbow Park
Heritage Committee presented a formal request to the Calgary Heritage Authority
(known as CHA) for their support to officially recognize Fred Charles Lowes
(1880 - 1950). The CHA agreed that indeed he had played a significant role in
the history and development of Calgary. The CHA‚s official endorsement of
this project began an important step towards a heritage recognition process for
our community. The EPRA‚s Heritage Committee is now planning for the
design and installation of a river rock memorial on the original foundation
site of Freddie Lowes‚ former home known as "Lowestoft". A bronze plaque
will highlight some of the notable contributions made by one of Calgary‚s
most colorful characters from the
turn-of-the-last-century.
An excerpt
from the 1997 winter addition of the Elbow Park Gazette and its walking tour
guide has been reprinted below with permission from its author, Elbow Park
resident, Kathleen Taylor Scott. Her written work has become the inspirational
force behind the tribute we now pay to a man called Fred Charles
Lowes.
ELBOWPARK GAZETTE
Text by Kathleen Taylor
Scott
A few names stand out among
the developers, speculators, and promoters of these boom years; one was Fred C.
Lowes. Freddie Lowes epitomized Horace Greeley's famous line "Go West Young
Man" and represented the dream of every westerner. His success story was
high-lighted locally, nationally, and internationally in promotional material
at the time.
Fred Charles Lowes was
brash, flamboyant, and generous. He had many admirers, including Bob Edwards
who often wrote of Freddie and his exploits in The Eye Opener. Freddie was
idolized in the press and became a living legend. Reported to be Calgary's
first millionaire, Freddie Lowes made and lost a fortune in land speculation
between 1906 and 1913.
Born in 1880
in Brampton, Ontario, Freddie Lowes was educated in Brampton and Toronto.
Although his parents were born in Canada, Freddie let it be known that his
parents came from two old and distinguished English families.‚ (According
to the 1911 Dominion Census, over 70% of the total population were of British
descent. Freddie, like many members of the city's entrepreneurial and
administrative elite, favoured and promoted British institutions, ideas and
fashions.)
Freddie left school in
1899 to start his business career with the Canada Life Assurance Co. in
Toronto. Three years later he was sent to Calgary to act as its secretary in
the North West Territories. Two years later, Freddie did field work for the
company. In 1907, Freddie started his own company, F.C. Lowes & Co., Real
Estate, Insurance and Financial Brokers and by 1911, it was the largest and
most successful real estate firm in the West. There were offices throughout
Canada, the United States and London, England. At the height of the boom, F.C.
Lowes & Co. had a staff of 400 employees and its holdings included Bow
Park, Glencoe and Elbow Park, Rideau and Roxboro, Windsor Park, Stanley Park,
and Britannia
″
conservatively estimated at two million dollars. He made a fortune on
commissions acquiring the right-of-way lands for Canadian Northern Railway
Company.
Building upon his real
estate success, Freddie Lowes moved into land development. The neighborhoods he
developed were expensive enclaves. Building restrictions ensured larger,
well-built houses. In 1912, Freddie Lowes hired a prominent town planner from
Seattle to develop Britannia: a community with a picturesque street layout of
wide boulevards following the curves and hills of the landscape. Although the
plan was not used at the time, many of the ideas were used when the community
was developed. He was a founding member of Calgary's Town Planning Commission
in 1912.
Freddie was a great booster
and wrote the pamphlet "Where Wheat is King". His Elbow Park home was featured
in another pamphlet distributed worldwide. He wrote articles printed in the
British papers expounding on the opportunities in Calgary and was interviewed
on two continents about his belief in the West and his success. He was so
popular, he was asked to be a mayoralty candidate in 1909. He
declined.
Freddie was an avid
sportsman; his interests included golf, lacrosse and polo. He served as
secretary and treasurer of almost every sporting club in Calgary and sponsored
local sport teams. Perhaps one of the best known "Freddie Lowes story" is when
canvassers knocked on his door collecting for the Y building fund. Freddie
asked how much they were trying to raise. "$5,000.00" the canvasser responded.
Freddie wrote a cheque for the amount. Freddie Lowes was a noted
philanthropist, including donating the land for Christ
Church.
In 1912, Freddie Lowes owned
an American Underslung tourer, a four-cylinder Cadillac company car, and two
Pierce Arrows, which cost about $5,000 and $6,000 each. While in California for
the winter of 1912 - 1913, he attended an auto race in Santa Monica,
California. Freddie bought the winning car and brought it to Calgary where there
weren't any roads to race the car.
In
early 1913, Freddie was reportedly worth $7,000,000. However with the beginning
of World War I, British and other investments slowed down considerably. Freddie
so firmly believed in Calgary, that when the market slowed down, he continued
to invest his own money in land development and was broke by 1916. He lost all
his properties to taxes. His house Lowestoft, was home to Tweedsmuir School for
Girls until 1938. It was demolished in 1966 in the Elbow Drive widening
project.
Freddie Lowes virtually
disappeared from public life in the 1920‚s. Sadly, Freddie died broke in
Ponoka in 1950.
Interested in supporting The Freddie
Lowes Memorial project? With a contribution of $10.00 or more, you can help us
build a permanent tribute to one of Calgary‚s most endearing and
progressive entrepreneur from the early years.
Yes, I would like to help The Freddie
Lowes Memorial Project. I am enclosing
$_____________.
Yes, I would like to
receive a receipt for my donation of
$_______________.
Name:_______________________
Address:___________________________________________
Please
clip and fill out the form and make cheque payable to : The Elbow Park
Residents Association
Memo: Freddie
Lowes Memorial
Mail to : Attention Barbara
Mathies , President EPRA, 611 - 38 Ave. S.W. Calgary, Alberta T2S
0W2.
For more information on the Memorial
Project call Helena @ 243-7121 or Sandra @
243-7206
Posted: Thu - April 15, 2004 at 08:25 PM