If you travel Highway 2 between Calgary and Lethbridge, you undoubtedly have seen the Bluebird Motel. It is on the north end of Claresholm on the west side of the highway. The sign proudly proclaims “Old Fashioned Hospitality since 1947”.
Having a fascination with old hotels/motels, meant this place was on my “must visit” list for many years. Every time we would drive by on the highway, I would say to Emily, “I really want to stay there some day.”
Well, on a February weekend in 2020 we finally had our chance. Emily was working for a couple of days in nearby Nanton (another one of our favorite towns) and we decided this would provide the perfect excuse to stay at the Bluebird.
Upon checking in, I was pleased to see that the owners of the motel have embraced their history. Sitting on the table in our room was a six page document called “Early History of the Bluebird Motel”, which was prepared for HRHS (High River Historical Society?) in March of 2004. It provided a great timeline of how the motel came to be and formed the basis of another DanOCan.com YouTube video. The content of this article is also heavily based on the information contained in that document.
Video aside, I figured I would also do a bit more of an in-depth written blog on this one since it allows me to explore things in a little more detail. So, let’s start…
1937: Ferd and Lucy Seymour purchase eight acres from Dr. Tupper on the north end of Claresholm. The land contains a house which Dr. Tupper had moved from Willow Creek, a shed that extended to the noirth from the house to a large barn. The Seymours establish the Claresholm Dairy.
Fall 1944: The Seymours sell the dairy business to Ken Donaldson but retain the land and buildings.
Spring 1946: Ferd Seymour purchases half interest in Qually Motor, a Chev dealership located on 49th Avenue in Claresholm.
Fall 1946: Lucy Seymour hires carpenter John Letcher to take down a barn and sheds on the property. The lumber and nails from these buildings is salvaged and used in the construction of the Bluebird Bungalows.
Spring 1947: Construction of Bluebird Bungalows begins. The Bluebird name is taken from the bluebirds who nested on the fenceline of the Seymour’s property, close to where modern day Unit 4 stands.
September 1947: Three duplex cabins are opened. Today these cabins are Units 1 and 2, Units 3 and 4, and Units 6 and 7. A small room is added on the south side of the first cabin and serves as a storage area and office. Rates started at $2 for a single, up to $5 for a three bed family room, roughly $24 – $62 in 2020 dollars.
1948: The livery barn attached to Qually Motors is demolished. Lumber from the barn is used in the construction of two more duplex cabins, which today house Units 9 and 10 and Units 12 and 14. (In keeping with a common North American tradition, the number 13 is omitted.)
1962: Ferd and Lucy move into a newly constructed house located directly behind the motel. A new office is constructed between the first two cabins.
1963: Three new single units (Units 5, 8, and 11) are built in between the other cabins, uniting all thirteen units under one roof for the first time.
September 1967: The Seymours purchase five duplex units from the Grand-o-Vue Motel which was located at 42nd Avenue and Macleod Trail in Calgary. The buildings are moved to Claresholm and are rented out for the first time in October of that same year. The Bluebird now has 23 units which is the configuration it has maintained since.
February 1, 1971: Ferd and Lucy turn over operation of the motel to the next generation, Annette and Harold.
June 15, 1994: The Bluebird Motel is sold out of the family to Randy and Fern Kaniuk.
There are a couple of people I would like to thank. After our stay at the Bluebird, I put out the call on Twitter to two of the best local historians around: Harry Sanders and Alan Zakrison. In no time at all, they had tracked down information about the Grand-o-Vue Motel which really helped complete this story. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting and talking to Harry before, but have never had the opportunity to meet Alan yet. Thanks, guys, for helping me out.
Disclaimer: No compensation nor consideration was given by anyone connected to the Bluebird Motel in exchange for this article. This was put together purely for my own enjoyment.
DanOCan 
Harold Seymour, son of Ferd lives in the property just west of the hotel. He is a wealth of information and can help with the history. He was on the museum board for a number of years and keeps a lot of records at home.
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That’s great, thanks for sharing that. As you could tell from my awkward wording of “the next generation”, it wasn’t 100% clear from the document in the motel room the exact relationship between Ferd/Lucy and Harold/Annette. Based on context I sort of assumed Harold was a son but I wasn’t sure so I tried to avoid putting something in my write-up that wasn’t factually true.
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HRHS he is getting a little Historical, how ever he can be found on the west side of the driveway. It would appear you stayed in the Gene Autry room #19. On the south side of the log barn you can see where it was attached to the old wood barn that became the original motel units. If you are this way again, drove bye.
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Hello! I certainly will do that. Yes, we were in the Gene Autry room. I would love to get a closer look at that barn and see where it was attached. As you may have gathered, I am absolutely fascinated with bits of local history like this.
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Harold Seymour, son of Ferd lives in the property just west of the hotel. He is a wealth of information and can help with the history. He was on the museum board for a number of years and keeps a lot of records at home.
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HRHS is likely Harold Seymour as those are his initials and he is very proud of both the hotel and the community. Harold and Annette are so great with history on the community and of course can fill in blanks on the hotel as well.
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That makes sense. I was wondering why the High River Historical Society would have such an interest in a Claresholm institution. 🙂
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What a gem, I love how clean it looks. Nice work by the chain of owners, on upkeep.
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My mom (Winnie Grummett) worked there for a few years and really enjoyed it and missed it when she became ill and retired.
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Winnie was a friendly good worker, pleasant and dependable.
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I wish to find a job in this place and I hope I can do my best like others their did❤️
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We lived in fort Macleod in the 1970’s, on my great aunts ranch on highway 811 ( Jane Whipple) just five miles north of town and dad had a trap line for beaver, and shot coyotes for extra money during lean times. The HBC had a fur agent that set up office at the Blue Bird Motel, and that’s where dad would take the pelts. There were many nights we waited in anticipation for him while he did business in one of the rooms with the man from HBC. We spent lots of time at the Blue Bird.
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I stayed at the motel foe one night a number of years ago. It was so clean and I loved the antique furniture in the room
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