Tucked into the foothills of southern Alberta, Cowley sits west of Lethbridge and is surrounded by the Municipal District of Pincher Creek No. 9. The village covers a compact land area of 1.36 square kilometres, and as of the 2021 Census, 216 residents called it home, occupying 96 of its 110 private dwellings. That figure represents a modest increase of 3.3% from the 2016 count of 209 people, though the community had seen a more notable decline earlier, dropping 11.4% between 2011 and 2016 when the population fell from 236 to 209. The 2021 population density works out to roughly 158.8 residents per square kilometre.
Cowley’s roots stretch back to the 1880s, when settlers first established the community. Its name is a blend of two words – “cow” and “lea” – a fitting nod to the ranching heritage of the surrounding region. A local rancher is credited with giving the village its name. The Cowley Post Office opened in 1900, and by 1906 the community had been formally incorporated as a village. Cowley holds a couple of notable cultural distinctions: it was featured on a 17-cent postage stamp issued by Canada Post on August 27, 1980, marking the 75th anniversary of Alberta becoming a province. The village also earned a place in cinema history when it appeared in the 2005 film Brokeback Mountain, standing in for the fictional town of Signal, Wyoming.