The fort was built as a square on October 18, 1874. The east side held the men's quarters and the west side held those of the Mounties. Buildings such as hospitals, stores and guardrooms were in the south end. Stables and the blacksmith's shop were in the north end. The town grew on the location of the Fort Macleod
North-West Mounted Police (NWMP) Barracks, the second headquarters of the NWMP after
Fort Livingstone was abandoned in 1876. Fort Macleod was originally established in 1874 on a peninsula along the
Oldman River, then moved in 1884 to the present town location. The
Museum of the North-West Mounted Police is located in Fort Macleod. Once agricultural settlement and the railway came to the region, Macleod boomed. The town became a
divisional point for the
Canadian Pacific Railway and frontier wood construction began to be replaced by brick and sandstone. In 1906, a fire devastated the downtown and destroyed most of the wooden buildings. From 1906 to 1912, Macleod had its greatest period of growth, as more new brick and stone building replaced the destroyed wooden ones. Then in 1912, the CPR moved the divisional point and 200 jobs to
Lethbridge, devastating the local economy. Fort Macleod ceased to grow, and in 1924 was forced to declare bankruptcy. Until the 1970s, the town's economy stagnated and the buildings from the turn-of-the-century remained untouched. In 1978,
Alberta Culture started to inventory the downtown buildings, and in 1982, the downtown became Alberta's first "Provincial Historic Area". As well,
Heritage Canada started a Main Street Restoration Project in 1982, aiming to preserve the sandstone and brick buildings, some dating back to 1878. == Demographics ==