History Of Edmonton

The first inhabitants settled in the area that is now Edmonton, Alberta, Canada around 3,000 BC and perhaps as early as 10,000 BC, when an ice-free corridor opened up as the last ice age ended and timber, water, and wildlife became available in the region.

Early history

Edmonton, like many places in North America, had been inhabited for thousands of years by First Nations groups.

Fur trade

In 1795, European traders of the North West Company (NWC) established Fort Augustus north of Edmonton. The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), a competitor with the North West Company in the North American fur trade, built Edmonton House (later Fort Edmonton) adjacent to Fort Augustus a year later.

In 1802, both forts were moved south to the Rossdale Flats, south of present-day downtown Edmonton. The forts were briefly moved north, before they moved back to the Rossdale Flats site in 1813. Following the merger of the HBC and NWC in 1821, the name Fort Augustus was dropped, with operations centralized under Fort Edmonton. The fort served as headquarters for the HBC fur trade operations North Saskatchewan District of Rupert's Land. The Rossdale location remained in use until 1830 when flooding forced the construction of a new Fort Edmonton on higher ground. The area presently occupied by the Alberta Legislature Building was selected as the site for the new Fort Edmonton. The decline of the fur trade in the 1860s led to the abandonment of several buildings at Fort Edmonton in the following decades. The fort was eventually dismantled in 1915.

Early settlement (1870–1945)

The first settlement outside of the fort was in the 1870s, pioneer farmers living in rustic log cabins along the river - these farms formed the structure for the 1882 survey of the land into "River lots". "1885 Street" at Fort Edmonton Park represents the early hamlet of Edmonton. The Town of Edmonton was established in 1894. The town encompassed modern Boyle Street (the original downtown) and McCauley neighbourhoods.

In 1870, the Hudson's Bay Company had been granted a reserve on much of the present downtown, but by 1913, the peak of the World War I land price inflationary boom, it was all sold off. Edmonton got its first railway in 1903 when a branch line from Calgary via southside Strathcona was built to cross the Low Level Bridge. Edmonton became a city in 1904 and shortly after, with a mere 5,000 people became Alberta's capital. With the new land west of Queens Avenue (modern 100 St) available to the city, the city grew tremendously, and Boyle Street was abandoned as the downtown for the new, current downtown. Many new communities like Glenora, Highlands, and Westmount were built at this time as the economy started to gain momentum. And during the early 1910s, Edmonton grew very rapidly, causing rising speculation in real estate prices. In 1912, Edmonton amalgamated with the city of Strathcona, south of the North Saskatchewan River; as a result, the city extended south of the river.

Just prior to World War I, the real estate boom ended suddenly, causing the city's population to decline sharply—from over 72,500 in 1914 to under 54,000 only two years later. The high rate of volunteer enlistment to the army during the war contributed to the drop in population. The city slowly grew in population and economy during the 1920s and 1930s, until taking off during and after World War II.

The first licensed airfield in Canada, Blatchford Field (now Edmonton City Centre (Blatchford Field) Airport), commenced operation in 1926. Pioneering aviators such as Wilfrid R. "Wop" May and Max Ward used Blatchford Field as a major base for the distribution of mail, food, and medicine to Northern Canada; hence Edmonton's role as the "Gateway to the North" was strengthened. World War II saw Edmonton's becoming a major base for the construction of the Alaska Highway