In November, 1893, the Alberta Railway and Coal Company sold the Dunmore-Lethbridge line to the Canadian Pacific Railway and it was changed to a standard gauge line – which, for your information is four feet, eight and one half inches wide).  Later on, the Lethbridge-Coutts line was also changed to standard gauge.  At that time, Warner was known as “Brunton Siding” and it consisted of a forlorn little section house and a freight car depot displaying that name.

In 1907, the name was changed to Warner honoring A. L. Warner who was head of the O.W. Kerr land Company out of Minneapolis, Minnesota.  At that same time, Warner’s first hotel was built.  The first school in Warner was built in 1909 in a familiar building to local residents – the current Elk’s Hall.Warner became a Village in 1908 and we will be celebrating all through 2008 during our Centennial.  The council consisted of Mayor Charles Egan, Secretary-Treasurer E.J. Welsh and Councilor W. H. Soice.

During those early years, the need for spiritual fulfillment was apparent so churches were erected in Warner.  The Evangelical Churchwas built in 1907.  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints was built in 1909 and following this, the Our Lady of Lourdes Roman Catholic church was built in 1911.  Also in 1911, St. Andrew’s Anglican church was built.  The only church that remains open today in Warner is the Evangelical church.

Warner “firsts” came in the way of residence telephones appearing in 1911.  The Post Office being established in 1913 with Wallace Simpson as the Postmaster.  Several school districts formed the Warner Consolidated School District No. 1; the first of it’s kind in Albertaand it’s believed to be the first of it’s kind in Canada.   We also saw The Empress Theatre built in Warner in 1915 but then tragedy struck in 1917 when fire started in a garage which destroyed the Empress along with 27 other buildings.  The population at the time was 700.

Because fire had always been a major concern in the community, the Warner Volunteer Fire Department was organized on September 7th, 1960.  Les Warner was the fire chief and Ted Hurl was assistant chief.
Warner continued to built and make improvements to its community and the 70’s were no exception.  In order to facilitate hockey and figure skating, artificial ice was installed in the Civic Centre in 1970. 

The 80’s brought some new businesses to Warner and sports enthusiasts could now enjoy an enlarged Civic Centre complete with dressing rooms, showers and a new kitchen.  In 2003, the all-girls hockey school was opened right here in our little Village and it’s now home to more than 20 female hockey players each and every fall – The Warner Warriors come to town to live, attend school and – most importantly, hone their skills on the ice hoping for a chance to gain a scholarship to college.

Since those first years before the settlers came, Warner has grown, changed and progressed, shrunk, and grown again.  True, it is not a large bustling city with all the traffic and noise.  It is, however, a flourishing farm community of 382 people who have worked and played together; people who have rallied to a cause whenever their help was needed.  In times of tragedy, our community has become as one unit, taking care of it’s own.  During happy times, all have celebrated together.  This kind of spirit is what makes a home town our home town!!.