Walking tours offer a variety of ways to explore history

By Lethbridge Herald on June 28, 2025.

Alexandra Pulido-Guzman
Lethbridge Herald

The Lethbridge Historical Society in partnership with local historian Belinda Crowson, are offering residents and visitors an opportunity to explore the city’s history through a new set of walking tours. 

The Hidden History Walking Tours will begin July 3 and will be offered Thursdays at 7 p.m. and Sundays at 10 a.m. throughout the Summer, for a small fee for non-members. 

“The Lethbridge Historical Society and I have been working together to create a program over the summer for July and August, and it is a variety of walking tours that we designed for tourists and also off course the local community,” says Crowson. 

She explains that they have taken the best of their previous tours, they have analyzed what have worked and what could be improved and curated a list of tours that will be available to the public. 

“Last year we tried some out with our members to see if they were any good, so some these have never been done for the public before, so we are looking forward to seeing some brand news ones as well,” says Crowson. 

She adds that some of the tours included in the Hidden History Walking Tours, are previous beloved tours that have been revamped. 

“There is everything from tours looking at historical properties in London Road to a variety of cemetery tours, and historical murder tours,” says Crowson. 

In terms of what those interested in taking part of the tours need to know before hand, Crowson says the tours are between 60 to 90 minutes in length and each has a different starting place. 

“Please if you can purchase your tickets in advance, you can buy them online, but we will be selling them at the start of the tour as well. They are absolutely free for Lethbridge Historical Society members or Historical Society of Alberta members,” says Crowson. 

She explains that members of any of their “sister chapters” who are visiting Lethbridge can take part in the tours for free as well. 

“It’s really hard to miss a tour walking around, so if you happen to arrive a few minutes late and you find us, please join in,” says Crowson. 

The Lethbridge Historical Society recommends those attending the tours bring comfortable walking shoes, hat, sunscreen and water.  

“We start on Thursday with a murder tour and for that one I have been doing some research in all murders in southwestern Alberta and this tour will focus in murders that took place in Lethbridge, particularly those that we can visit on the walking tour,” says Crowson. 

The tour is called Shadows of Lethbridge: Historic Murders & Crime Walking Tour and Crowson says it involves murders going back well over a hundred years to more modern ones. 

“Surprisingly, not many places where murders have been, are not the most haunted places. They are not as overlapping as one might expect,” says Crowson. 

In terms of the beloved tours that have been revamped, Crowson says the cemetery tours are one of them. She adds that those attending can discover what they can about Lethbridge through the “Echoes of 1925: Cemetery Stories from a Century ago” starting on July 6. 

“There is a change up in the cemetery tours. I realized I’ve been doing cemetery tours over 20 years, and I decided that this year that a couple of the tours are on people that the only thing they share in common is that they died in 1925,” says Crowson. 

She adds that any tour can be booked for a group as a private tour at a mutually arranged time by emailing info@lethbridgehistory.org 

And for specific information about the Hidden History of Lethbridge Walking Tours, visit the Lethbridge Historical Society website at http://www.lethbridgehistory.org