Cheadle is a

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

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 within Wheatland County. It is located on Highway 24, south of the Highway 1 and approximately east of the City 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 ...

. Cheadle Airport is located northwest of Cheadle. It is a turf airstrip run by G. Jackson.

History

The

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway (french: Chemin de fer Canadien Pacifique) , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadi ...

named the community ''Cheadle'' for Dr. Walter Butler Cheadle of Milton and Cheadle explorers who traveled across the prairies and

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico in ...

in the 1860s. Dr. Cheadle and Lord Milton were co-authors of the book "The

North-West Passage The Northwest Passage (NWP) is the sea route between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through the Arctic Ocean, along the northern coast of North America via waterways through the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. The eastern route along the Arc ...

by Land" (London, 1865), which described their expedition in considerable detail. A record was made when laying the

railroad tracks A railway track (British English and UIC terminology) or railroad track (American English), also known as permanent way or simply track, is the structure on a railway or railroad consisting of the rails, fasteners, railroad ties (sleepers, ...

between Strathmore and Cheadle when the railway was built. "In one hour a mile of steel was laid. And, at the end of the ten-hour

working day The weekdays and weekend are the complementary parts of the week devoted to labour and rest, respectively. The legal weekdays (British English), or workweek (American English), is the part of the seven-day week devoted to working. In most of t ...

, the rails were laid to Cheadle, nine miles and 300 feet for a record." The ties had been strung the night before. There was just one minor building in Cheadle when the early ranchers and homesteaders began to arrive in the late 1890s. It was a

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...

, store, and boarding home, run by Mrs. Florence Belwer for the CPR section-men. Cheadle began to grow in the years 1906–1916 to a

hardware store Hardware stores (in a number of countries, "shops"), sometimes known as DIY stores, sell household hardware for home improvement including: fasteners, building materials, hand tools, power tools, keys, locks, hinges, chains, plumbing suppli ...

, barbershop,

blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from #Other metals, other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such ...

, restaurant,

pool hall A billiard, pool or snooker hall (or parlour, room or club; sometimes compounded as poolhall, poolroom, etc.) is a place where people get together for playing cue sports such as pool, snooker or carom billiards. Such establishments commonly ser ...

dance hall Dance hall in its general meaning is a hall for Dance, dancing. From the earliest years of the twentieth century until the early 1960s, the dance hall was the popular forerunner of the discothèque or nightclub. The majority of towns and citi ...

, three

grocery store A grocery store ( AE), grocery shop ( BE) or simply grocery is a store that primarily retails a general range of food products, which may be fresh or packaged. In everyday U.S. usage, however, "grocery store" is a synonym for supermarket, a ...

water tank A water tank is a container for storing water. Water tanks are used to provide storage of water for use in many applications, drinking water, irrigation agriculture, fire suppression, agricultural farming, both for plants and livestock, chemi ...

, CPR station and section houses, stockyards, lumberyard, two

grain elevators A grain elevator is a facility designed to stockpile or store grain. In the grain trade, the term "grain elevator" also describes a tower containing a bucket elevator or a pneumatic conveyor, which scoops up grain from a lower level and deposi ...

, and several residences. The CPR had once planned to locate Ogden Shops in Cheadle. The arrival of the

automobile A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with Wheel, wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, pe ...

and another C.P.R. line from

Gleichen Gleichen is the name of two groups of castles in Germany, thus named from their resemblance to each other (german: gleich like, or resembling). Castles in Thuringia between Gotha and Erfurt The first is a group of three (hence called “die dre ...

to Calgary, through Carseland and Dalemead, along with the building of the C.N.R. through Lyalta and Ardenode, quickly halted the growth of Cheadle. A lack of directional sign along Highway 1, indicating Cheadle's location, also contributed to the hamlet's demise. Most travelers became completely unaware of Cheadle's existence, and it was often missed from Alberta maps. At one time grain was hauled to Cheadle from Carseland. The transport teams ate and rested in Cheadle before returning. This all brought much of the business to Cheadle and raised the total number of

grain elevator A grain elevator is a facility designed to stockpile or store grain. In the grain trade, the term "grain elevator" also describes a tower containing a bucket elevator or a pneumatic conveyor, which scoops up grain from a lower level and deposits ...

s to 3. By 1971, Cheadle's post office and grocery store closed. It was purchased by Fritz Gosteli, a local acreage owner originally from Switzerland, who transformed the building into a two-story single family residence. There were two main businesses at that time; Risdon's Tomato Enterprise and Ken Hendry's Manufacturing, which was built two years prior. There were only a few residents at that time: Ken & Leona Hendry, Leon & Kay Risdon and family, Tommy Kildea, Doug & Kathy Davies and family, Fritz & Christine Gosteli and family, Mr. & Mrs. H. V. Iles, Dietrich & Regina Volkmann. Between Cheadle and Highway 1 there was Ken and Bev Jones and family, Mr. & Mrs. M. Landru and family, and Mr. & Mrs. H. McElroy and family, and Mr. & Mrs. E. A. Cobb.

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 ...

, Cheadle had a population of 83 living in 35 of its 36 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 109. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021. As a designated place in the 2016 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Cheadle had a population of 91 living in 31 of its 31 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2011 population of 84. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2016.

Statues

There is a statue of a

Cheetos Cheetos (formerly styled as Chee-tos until 1998) is a crunchy corn puff snack brand made by Frito-Lay, a subsidiary of PepsiCo. Fritos creator Charles Elmer Doolin invented Cheetos in 1948, and began national distribution in the U.S. The initi ...

corn puff located at 400 Railway Avenue. Unveiled in October 2022, the statue was commissioned by the Cheetos Brand, part of

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 ...

Foods. It is not a permanent fixture, and will leave Cheadle after November 4, 2022, for a tour around Canada.

References

{{Alberta, hamlets=yes Calgary Region Designated places in Alberta Hamlets in Alberta Wheatland County, Alberta

History

Demographics

Statues

See also

References