Hanna is a town in east-central Alberta, Canada.

History

The town was first settled in 1912 and was incorporated in 1914. It was named after

David Blyth Hanna David Blyth Hanna (December 20, 1858, Thornliebank, Scotland – December 1, 1938, Toronto) was a railway executive with the Canadian Northern Railway and the Canadian National Railways. Born in Thornliebank, Scotland, he emigrated to Canad ...

, the third vice president of the

Canadian Northern Railway The Canadian Northern Railway (CNoR) was a historic Canadian transcontinental railway. At its 1923 merger into the Canadian National Railway , the CNoR owned a main line between Quebec City and Vancouver via Ottawa, Winnipeg, and Edmonton. Mani ...

. It was a division point of the Canadian Northern Railway and had a 10-stall railway roundhouse.

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 Hanna had a population of 2,394 living in 1,100 of its 1,257 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 2,559. 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 Hanna recorded a population of 2,559 living in 1,149 of its 1,246 total private dwellings, a change from its 2011 population of 2,673. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2016.

Economy

The town's main industries are

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

oil production Petroleum is a fossil fuel that can be drawn from beneath the earth's surface. Reservoirs of petroleum was formed through the mixture of plants, algae, and sediments in shallow seas under high pressure. Petroleum is mostly recovered from oil dri ...

, power generation,

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...

, and

coal mining Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...

. It is the centre of a large trading area called Short Grass County and is the home of approximately 200 businesses. Natural resources in the Hanna area are

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when dea ...

petroleum Petroleum, also known as crude oil, or simply oil, is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture of mainly hydrocarbons, and is found in geological formations. The name ''petroleum'' covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crud ...

natural gas Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbo ...

, and

bentonite Bentonite () is an absorbent swelling clay consisting mostly of montmorillonite (a type of smectite) which can either be Na-montmorillonite or Ca-montmorillonite. Na-montmorillonite has a considerably greater swelling capacity than Ca-mon ...

Notable people

Chad Kroeger Chad Robert Kroeger ( Turton; born November 15, 1974) is a Canadian musician who is the lead singer and guitarist of the rock band Nickelback. In addition to his work with Nickelback, Kroeger has been involved with a variety of collaboratio ...

, Mike Kroeger, and

Ryan Peake Ryan Anthony Peake (born March 1, 1973) is a Canadian musician, singer and songwriter who is best known as the rhythm guitarist, keyboardist, and backing vocalist of the Canadian rock band Nickelback. He has been with the band since their incepti ...

, members of the rock band

Nickelback Nickelback is a Canadian Rock music, rock band formed in 1995 in Hanna, Alberta. It is composed of guitarist and lead vocalist Chad Kroeger, guitarist, keyboardist and backing vocalist Ryan Peake, bassist Mike Kroeger, and drummer Daniel Adai ...

Shirley McClellan Shirley McClellan (born 22 January 1942) is a Canadian politician who was a long serving member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta for 20 years. She served as Deputy Premier. Early life McClellan was born in Hanna, Alberta, Canada, on Ja ...

, former provincial politician *

Lanny McDonald Lanny King McDonald (born February 16, 1953) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Colorado Rockies and Calgary Flames of the National Hockey League (NHL). He played over 1,100 games during a 16-year c ...

, former professional hockey player and member of the

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

Hall of Fame *

Glen Motz Glen Motz (born 1958) is a Canadian politician who was re-elected for his second term to the House of Commons of Canada in the 2019 Canadian federal election on October 21, 2019. Motz was first elected in a by-election on October 24, 2016 after ...

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

MP for

Medicine Hat—Cardston—Warner Medicine Hat—Cardston—Warner (formerly Medicine Hat) is a federal electoral district in southern Alberta, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1908. Following the 2012 federal electoral redistribution, ...

Blake Nill Blake Nill (born February 16, 1962) is a former Canadian football defensive lineman and the current head coach for the University of British Columbia's football team, the UBC Thunderbirds. Previously, Nill had served as head coach for the Sain ...

, former professional football player *

Jim Nill James Edward Nill (born April 11, 1958) is a Canadian former ice hockey player and the current general manager of the Dallas Stars of the National Hockey League (NHL). Nill played in the NHL throughout the 1980s with the St. Louis Blues, Vancouver ...

, former professional hockey player *

Milt Pahl Milton George Pahl (October 30, 1943 – March 1, 2023) was a provincial level politician and current businessman from Alberta, Canada. He served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1979 to 1986. During his time in office he ...

, former provincial politician *

Dave Ruhl Dave Ruhl (August 12, 1920 – December 21, 1988) was a Canadian professional wrestler who during his near 30-year career competed in North American regional promotions in Western Canada and the Canadian Prairies as well as in Japan and other int ...

, former professional wrestler *

Marjorie Willison Marjorie Willison is an author of books on gardening and a radio personality who answers gardeners' questions during regular appearances on "Maritime Noon", a show broadcast in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island on CBC Radio One. ...

, author and radio personality

Sister town

Wake, Okayama is a town located in Wake District, Okayama Prefecture, Japan. As of October 2016, the town has an estimated population of 14,191. The total area is 144.21 km². The town is famous in the region for the 'Wamojiyaki' festival that takes pl ...

is the sister town of Hanna.

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1912 establishments in Alberta Special Area No. 2 Towns in Alberta Populated places established in 1912