Bow Island () is a town in

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

, Canada. It is located on Highway 3 in

southern Alberta Southern Alberta is a region located in the Canadian province of Alberta. In 2004, the region's population was approximately 272,017.United States border, southeast of

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

and southwest of

Medicine Hat Medicine Hat is a city in Southern Alberta, southeast Alberta, Canada. It is located along the South Saskatchewan River. It is approximately east of Lethbridge and southeast of Calgary. This city and the adjacent Town of Redcliff, Alberta, ...

History

The community of Bow Island received its first post-colonial families in 1900. In February 1910, the Village of Bow Island was formed, and by March 1912 the village was declared the Town of Bow Island. The naming of Bow Island brings many stories to the forefront, but the most prominent one is that the communities of Grassy Lake, approximately to the west, and Bow Island had their respective names mixed up. An island named "Bow Island" is located north of Grassy Lake near the confluence of the Bow River and the

Oldman River The Oldman River is a river in southern Alberta, Canada. It flows roughly west to east from the Rocky Mountains, through the communities of Fort Macleod, Lethbridge, and on to Grassy Lake, where it joins the Bow River to form the South Saskatche ...

, while a low depressional area named "Grassy Lake" is located south of Bow Island. Bow Island was one of the first towns in Alberta to have natural gas wells and operated them until the franchise was sold to a private company. In the early 1950s, irrigation was extended to the Bow Island area, and the town doubled in population. Bow Island is surrounded by 110,000 acres (445 km²) of highly productive lands. Some of the most modern irrigation systems in the world are located in the area; the first pivot and linear sprinkler systems in Canada were erected in the Bow Island area. A completely automated distribution system was installed in 1982 by the St. Mary River Irrigation District (SMRID), and it serves an area of 5,000 acres (20 km²). The system is known as the Lateral 12 System and has been toured by groups from around the world.

Geography

Bow Island is located between the cities of

Lethbridge Lethbridge ( ) is a city in the province of Alberta, Canada. With a population of 101,482 in its 2019 Alberta municipal censuses, 2019 municipal census, Lethbridge became the fourth Alberta city to surpass 100,000 people. The nearby Canadian ...

and

. Its nearest community is the Hamlet of Burdett. The town of Bow Island sits inside of Forty Mile County.

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; french: Statistique Canada), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and cultur ...

, the Town of Bow Island had a population of 2,036 living in 674 of its 724 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 1,983. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021. The population of the Town of Bow Island according to its 2017 municipal census is 2,043, a change of from its 2007 municipal census population of 1,868. In the 2016 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, the Town of Bow Island recorded a population of 1,983 living in 636 of its 682 total private dwellings, a change from its 2011 population of 2,025. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2016.

Economy

Bow Island is well known for its dry edible bean industry. A 5.5 metre (18 ft) tall statue of the mascot "Pinto MacBean" is located adjacent to Highway No. 3 and greets everyone coming into town. Bow Island is also the largest

spearmint Spearmint, also known as garden mint, common mint, lamb mint and mackerel mint, is a species of mint, ''Mentha spicata'' (, native to Europe and southern temperate Asia, extending from Ireland in the west to southern China in the east. It is nat ...

-producing region in Canada, with 4 farms in the surrounding area producing 25% of the North American demand for Scotch spearmint essential oil, used in flavouring candy, gum, mints and toothpaste. A mustard seed processing facility was opened in Bow Island in 2019. The site was originally the home of Spitz, which started producing sunflower seeds there in 1982. Spitz was sold to

PepsiCo PepsiCo, Inc. is an American multinational food, snack, and beverage corporation headquartered in Harrison, New York, in the hamlet of Purchase. PepsiCo's business encompasses all aspects of the food and beverage market. It oversees the manuf ...

in 2008, and production was moved out in 2018.

Arts and culture

"Blues at the Bow Live", located in the historic Bow Theatre, is an internationally renowned live

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

venue featuring Grammy and

Juno Award The Juno Awards, more popularly known as the JUNOS, are awards presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music. New members of the Canadian Music Hall of ...

winning blues artists. This nonprofit, solely volunteer operated

Canadian blues Canadian blues is the blues and blues-related music (e.g., blues rock) performed by blues bands and performers in Canada. Canadian blues artists include singers, players of the main blues instruments: guitar ( acoustic and electric), harmonica ( ...

society was formed in 1993. The society's first show to be held in the Bow Theatre took place on December 17, 1994. They have been hosting sold-out performances since inception. Blues at the Bow draws patrons from every corner of the province of Alberta and beyond.Blues at the Bow Live
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Notable people

Troy Loney Troy ( el, Τροία and Latin: Troia, Hittite: 𒋫𒊒𒄿𒊭 ''Truwiša'') or Ilion ( el, Ίλιον and Latin: Ilium, Hittite: 𒃾𒇻𒊭 ''Wiluša'') was an ancient city located at Hisarlik in present-day Turkey, south-west of Çan ...

, former professional hockey player *

Clyfford Still Clyfford Still (November 30, 1904 – June 23, 1980) was an American painter, and one of the leading figures in the first generation of Abstract Expressionists, who developed a new, powerful approach to painting in the years immediately follo ...

, artist *

Skyler Stromsmoe Skyler Emerson Stromsmoe (born March 30, 1984) is a Canadian professional baseball utility player who is a free agent. Prior to beginning his professional career, he played college baseball at Longview Community College and Southern Arkansas Univ ...

, professional baseball player * Nicholas Taylor, former Canadian senator

Climate

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1910 establishments in Alberta County of Forty Mile No. 8 Latter-day Saint settlements in Canada Towns in Alberta