Tucked along the junction of Highway 2 and Highway 533, roughly south of Calgary in southern Alberta, Nanton sits within a landscape shaped by generations of farming and ranching. The town takes its name from Sir Augustus Meredith Nanton of Winnipeg (1860-1925), a financier who directed firms providing funding for farms and ranches across the Canadian west. Nanton earned the nickname “Tap Town” through a long-standing tradition of offering free drinking water to passing motorists, supplied from the foothills via a stand tap along the northbound highway. That same water became one of the first to be commercially bottled in Canada, giving rise to Nanton Water and Soda Ltd, which continues to operate in the town today.
According to the 2021 Census of Population, Nanton had a population of 2,167 residents living in 953 of its 1,004 private dwellings, a slight decrease of 0.6% from the 2016 figure of 2,181. The town covers a land area of 5.11 square kilometres, producing a population density of approximately 424 people per square kilometre. What began as a traditional agricultural community has grown into a well-visited tourist destination, drawing visitors to several notable attractions. The Bomber Command Museum of Canada, located along Highway 2 south adjacent to Highway 533, houses a preserved Avro Lancaster bomber FM159 that regularly runs its Rolls-Royce Merlin engines, alongside other significant RAF Bomber Command era aircraft including a Bristol Blenheim Mk IV. The Canadian Grain Elevator Discovery Centre features two fully restored grain elevators that tell the story of Alberta’s agricultural heritage, while a collection of antique shops and galleries organised around a downtown walking route rounds out Nanton’s appeal to visitors. The Coutts Centre for Western Canadian Heritage, gifted to the University of Lethbridge and launched in June 2011, sits just east of town on a historic property with over 100 years of history.