Edmonton History

10230 Jasper Avenue, Edmonton, Alberta By: Ryan Krawchuk  This icon in the heart of downtown has been there for as long as I can remember. I can remember going there with my mother to buy my school clothes and supplies. The Hudson’s Bay Company Department Store is a three-story stone and granite building occupying an entire city block on the corner of Jasper Avenue and 102 Street NW. It holds a special significance to Edmonton because of its connection with the Hudson’s Bay Company (H.B.C.), without whom Edmonton would not have existed.

The High Level Bridge By: Ryan Krawchuk Possibly the most iconic landmark in Edmonton, the High Level Bridge was constructed to link the communities of Edmonton and Strathcona spawning the merger into the City of Edmonton in 1912. Its massive length (772.24 metres) covers 28 total spans, on a combination of concrete and steel piers, standing 47.55 metres above the North Saskatchewan River. Planning began in 1903, with the federal government requiring that the bridge was at least 150 feet above the waters of the North Saskatchewan River. Construction began in 1910, employing over 500 men, as part of the four great steel truss bridges constructed by the Canadian Pacific Railway in Western Canada before World War One.

10067 Jasper Avenue NW, Edmonton By: Ryan Krawchuk This theatre, replicated on a much smaller scale at Fort Edmonton Park in 2011, is one of my favourite places to visit in the City of Edmonton. Fort Edmonton Park is expected to re-open in May of this year, following a $165 million dollar improvement project, and I couldn’t be more excited.

By: Gary Dick, posted to an internal City of Edmonton website. If you thought 2020 was a wild ride, the early part of the 20th century was also a time of great social upheaval. Governments struggled to turn Alberta from the Wild West into a place of safety and civility. Women fought for the right to vote, to obtain an education, to work outside the home, and to be legally recognized as persons. During these years there was also a growing movement to ban the sale of alcohol.

By: Ryan Krawchuk Iconic on the landscape of Whyte Avenue is the Strathcona Hotel. You cannot help but notice this regal building if you travel through Old Strathcona in Edmonton.

By: Gary Dick, posted to an internal City of Edmonton website. In 1960 Edmonton was the site of the first civic planetarium in Canada.

By: Ryan Krawchuk As the NHL is about to start up again for the 2021 season, I thought it might be fun to look at how professional hockey started in our fair city.