The history of local interest in history began with the establishment of the Chestermere Historical Society. This organization began as early as 1961 as with discussion, then in 1967 around a Centennial Pageant. In 1969 a committee was formed for writing of what became ‘Saddles Sleighs and Sadirons’ a local history of the Chestermere area, the book being launched on February 12th 1972. A Society was incorporated in 1974 but unfortunately had to disband in 1994 due to lack of interest. The records were deposited with The Glenbow Museum.
A history of the cabin owners at Chestermere Lake was published in 1982 by the Summer Village of Chestermere Lake, it was edited by Elaine Peake.
In 2000 then mayor of The Town of Chestermere, Dave Mikkelsen, suggested to resident Audrey Mc Donald that a history book of Chestermere was needed. This would be the third book which included the Chestermere area. Armed with a small budget from the Town, Audrey gathered many volunteers and much material over the next four years, and in 2005 ‘Chestermere a Home for All Seasons’ was published.
All three of these books are available online. http://contentdm.ucalgary.ca/digital/collection/p22007coll8
The people who volunteered remained committed to documenting and recording Chestermere’s history. In 2011 those citizens gathered to form The Chestermere Historical Foundation to carry on the work of the 1971 Chestermere Historical Society using the energy and enthusiasm which had been generated by the publication of the latest history book in 2005.