Medicine Hat, Alberta, is also known as the Gas City thanks to its vast reserves of natural gas. Rudyard Kipling famously described it as "the city with all hell for a basement".

Attractions

 • The Medicine Hat Tourism  office can be reached at 800-481-2822.
 • Like many smaller prairie towns, Medicine Hat has a "largest" something. The World's Largest Teepee was originally constructed for the 1988 Winter Olympic games in Calgary. The city has added original First Nations artwork to the interior panels. There was once a small gift shop adjacent to the site, which has been removed.
 • Downtown Medicine Hat is lit with 277 old-fashioned gas lights that burn around the clock.
 • Saint Patrick's Church is one of the largest continuously-poured concrete structures in the world, and a Heritage Site. It's a good example of "Gothic Revival" architecture
 • The city has opened a multi-million dollar arts and heritage center called The Esplanade, which houses the municipal museum, an art gallery, and a state-of-the-art performance space for touring and local productions, concerts, etc.
 •  *Medicine Hat Clay Industries National Historic District, 713 Medalta Avenue SE; 529–1070, Fax: 580–5868. May 14 Through September 5, 2005 9:30 To 5:00, daily. A rich abundance of fine clay made Medicine Hat a center for industrial cermaics. Most of the businesses are gone but the area has been set aside as a historic district. The district features examples of over 20,000 pieces of ceramic and pottery as well as a guided tour of the facilities and watching resident artists at work. Adults $6.00, Seniors 65 + $5.00, Youths 7 - 16 $5.00, Children 6 & under Free, Family Day Pass $25.00, 2005 Family Season Pass $45.00.

Activities

 •  "Hatters" are proud supporters of their local WHL hockey team, the Medicine Hat Tigers. The games are fun and inexpensive, but tickets sell out within days of the season opener. An arena of 4006 houses some 3800 season ticket holders, leaving precious few remaining tickets to be snapped up. Girls who become regulars at the games are referred to as "Tiger Tails".
 •  There is a permanent pottery exhibition at the Clay Products Interpretive Centre, which houses the "Great Wall of China" (referring to the ceramic China, as opposed to the country). Medicine Hat was the home of both Medalta Pottery and Hycroft China, two of the most important industrial pottery factories in the early twentieth century.
 •  Downtown Walking Tour; Maps for a self-guided walking tour can be found at the Tourism Office. Free

Shopping

Medicine Hat obviously isn't a large metropolis, and downtown Medicine Hat does not offer megastores with an excellent variety at excellent prices. However, if you'll put your big-city condescension away for a minute, you'll find it to be funky, hip and small-town sincere. Especially look for second hand stores, which have yet to be picked over.

Get out

 •  Elkwater Provincial Park, Cypress Hills
 •  Echo Dale Regional Park ; West of Medicine Hat; 527-7344; Site of restored 1887 house, a blacksmith shop and a coal mine.
 •  Dinosaur Provincial Park ; 107 kilometers northwest of Medicine Hat on Trans-Canada Highway 1; 378-4342; Hiking and guided tours through fossil beds. The Park is designated as a World Heritage Site. Adults - $8, Children (7-17) - $6

History

The town's name comes from the word Saamis, which is a native word that means Medicine Man's Hat. According to the 1983 centennial song "Hats Off to 100 Years!":

In eighteen-eighty-three, the Blackfoot fought the Cree
in a battle raging on near the South Saskatchewan.
In a ritual of defeat, the Medicine Man fell to the ground
and laid his feathered headdress down as a legend for our town.

Links

City of Medicine Hat