Inglewood is Calgary's first community. It was built east of the Elbow River, because it was thought that this is where the Canadian Pacific Railway would build its main station. The CPR eventually built its station on the other side of the river, which caused some Inglewood residents and businesses to move in order to profit from the business the railway generated.

Inglewood was the site of Calgary's major industries: the Burns meat packing plant and the Calgary Brewery, and it became home to some of Calgary's most prominent citizens.

Colonel James Walker, formerly a sub-inspector for the North-West Mounted Police and manager of the Cochrane Ranch, moved to Calgary to operate a lumber business. He built his home in Inglewood, and was considered to be one of Calgary's largest landowners. The property Walker purchased in Inglewood was the place where Calgary's first natural gas producing well was drilled, and in 1926 the property was founded as a bird sanctuary.

Inglewood was also home to A. Ernest Cross - one of the largest individual landowners in the province, founder of the Calgary Brewing and Malting Company, and one of the founders of the Calgary Stampede. In the 1990s, area residents, business owners, and other Calgarians have been working to restore the community's heritage.