What Do You Miss About Cochrane?
Cochrane has grown and changed in so many ways over the years—but if you’ve lived here for a while, chances are there are a few things you still miss.
Maybe it’s a business that’s long gone, a familiar face behind a counter, or the way Main Street felt on a Saturday afternoon. Maybe it’s community events, school days, ranch life, or simply the slower pace of a smaller town. Sometimes it’s not a place at all, but a sound, a smell, or a feeling that instantly takes you back.
At CHAPS (Cochrane Historical & Archival Preservation Society), we believe those memories matter. They help tell the story of who we are and where we’ve come from—and they often spark conversations that connect generations.
We’re asking locals, past and present:
What do you miss about Cochrane?
A store, café, or landmark?
A tradition, event, or way of life?
A moment from childhood or early adulthood?
A person or group who made the town feel like home?
Your responses may help guide future CHAPS social media posts, inspire exhibits or displays at the Cochrane Historical Museum, or simply preserve everyday memories that might otherwise be lost.
There’s no answer too big or too small. Sometimes it’s the little things that say the most.
If you’d like to share, leave a comment, send us a message, or drop by the museum during our summer hours. Let’s remember Cochrane—together.
Because history isn’t just dates and buildings. It’s lived, remembered, and shared.
I was in kindergarten when Glenbow as developed. this was my first experience with Cochrane’s growth. Seeing the picture of the Cochrane Cafe reminded me that as a kid you knew who was a newer resident to Cochrane on what they called the cafe. For the long time resident’s is was “Charlie’s”, to the newer people they referred to it as the Cochrane Cafe. Even after Charlie and his family sold the restaurant in the late eighties, we still referred to the place as Charlies. Such great memories of a that time.
Bob and Alice Graham @ the old pharmacy. Miss em
My grandfather working so hard to raise money for things in the town. The arena, moving the Anglican Church.
Loved that little
Town.
The old outdoor skating rink. Hockey practise, games and free skating. Watching games standing on snow drifts outside the boards. Mom gliding around the ice on speed skates.
Curling in the old quonset arena. The warm smell as you walked in. A couple words with Mr Laidlaw. The chill as you walked on the ice. The sound of straw brooms. Throwing the wrong turn to get down the ice on sheet 3.
I miss the Range Grill, Dr McQuitty, Bob and Alice at the Drugstore, Andisons Dry Goods Store, Foodmaster Grocery, McKay’s Ice Cream , The old outdoor Swimming Pool, A1 Drive in had the best mushroom burgers around