Drayton Valley is a town in central Alberta, Canada. It is located on Highway 22 (Cowboy Trail), approximately southwest of Edmonton. It is surrounded by Brazeau County, known for its vast oil fields. The town is located between the North Saskatchewan River and the Pembina River. The town was named after

Drayton, Hampshire Drayton is a residential area of the city of Portsmouth in the English county of Hampshire. Together with Farlington, its parent area, it makes up one of the electoral wards of the city. History The earliest mention of Drayton was as a manor ...

, the birthplace of the wife of one of the Alberta town's postmasters.

History

Prior to the 1953 oil boom, the community of Drayton Valley was sparsely populated. The main economic activities were farming and

logging Logging is the process of cutting, processing, and moving trees to a location for transport. It may include skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks or skeleton cars. Logging is the beginning of a supply chain ...

. Drayton Valley was incorporated as a village in 1956 and officially became a town in 1957. In 1955 a ferry was built to cross the North Saskatchewan River. The original bridge that replaced the ferry was eventually replaced by a new bridge in 2014.

Demographics

In the

2021 Census of Population The 2021 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population with a reference date of May 11, 2021. It follows the 2016 Canadian census, which recorded a population of 35,151,728. The overall response rate was 98%, which is sli ...

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 Drayton Valley had a population of 7,291 living in 2,897 of its 3,250 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 7,235. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021. In the 2016 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, the Town of Drayton Valley recorded a population of 7,235 living in 2,782 of its 3,116 total private dwellings, a change from its 2011 population of 7,118. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2016.

Economy

Oil and gas is the primary driver of Drayton Valley's economy. Agriculture and forestry also play roles in the local economy. A sawmill is located in the town.

Attractions

Drayton Valley's Omniplex is a community sports centre that hosts ice hockey, ringette, curling,

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

, baseball and

rodeo Rodeo () is a competitive equestrian sport that arose out of the working practices of cattle herding in Spain and Mexico, expanding throughout the Americas and to other nations. It was originally based on the skills required of the working va ...

. The town also has a public

swimming pool A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, paddling pool, or simply pool, is a structure designed to hold water to enable Human swimming, swimming or other leisure activities. Pools can be built into the ground (in-ground pools) or built ...

, a

ski hill A ski is a narrow strip of semi-rigid material worn underfoot to glide over snow. Substantially longer than wide and characteristically employed in pairs, skis are attached to ski boots with ski bindings, with either a free, lockable, or partial ...

, a bowling alley, and the Drayton Valley Golf and Country Club.

Sports

Drayton Valley is the home of the Drayton Valley Thunder of the Alberta Junior Hockey League. Drayton Valley is also home to the annual DV100 bicycle race.

Education

Drayton Valley has six public schools, two Catholic schools, and one outreach school. The public schools and outreach school are operated by the Wild Rose School Division while the Catholic schools are operated by the St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic School Division. ;Wild Rose School Division *Aurora Elementary School *Drayton Christian School *Evergreen Elementary School * Frank Maddock High School *Frank Maddock Outreach School *H.W. Pickup Junior High School ;St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic School Division *St. Anthony School * Holy Trinity Academy

Media

Drayton Valley is served by two weekly newspapers, the ''Drayton Valley Western Review'' and the ''Drayton Valley and District Free Press'' and one radio station,

CIBW-FM CIBW-FM is a canada, Canadian radio station that broadcasts a country music, country format at 92.9 FM broadcasting, FM in Drayton Valley, Alberta. The station is branded as ''Big West Country'' and is owned by the Jim Pattison Broadcast Group. ...

, mainly playing country music. A

Christian radio Christian radio is a Christian media radio format that focus on programming with a Christian message. Many such broadcasters play contemporary Christian music, though many programs include sermons, radio dramas, as well as news and talk progra ...

station, CIDV-FM, was launched in 2009.

Notable people

* Diana Janet McQueen, Canadian politician, Progressive Conservative MLA (2008-2015) *

Dave Hakstol David Hakstol (born July 30, 1968) is a Canadian ice hockey coach, currently serving as the head coach of the Seattle Kraken of the National Hockey League (NHL). A native of Warburg, Alberta, Hakstol was the head coach for Sioux City Musketeers ...

, NHL Head Coach for the Seattle Kraken

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1956 establishments in Alberta Towns in Alberta Former new towns in Alberta