Irvine 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

Cypress County Cypress County is a municipal district in southeastern Alberta, Canada that surrounds the City of Medicine Hat and the Town of Redcliff. The municipality is part of Census Division 1, Alberta.http://www.albertafirst.com/profiles/statspack/20 ...

. It is located approximately east of

Medicine Hat Medicine Hat is a city in 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 to the northwest are with ...

on Highway 1 and has an elevation of . The hamlet is located in census division No. 1 and in the federal riding of

History

The vast prairies were home to the Cree and other indigenous groups who traversed the area in and around the nearby Cypress Hills, following the routes of the bison. By 1870, the bison were all but gone. The Palliser Expedition passed through the region in 1859. Métis settled in the hills during the mid-1860s, and the Cypress Hills Massacre occurred in 1873. A settlement developed around a trading post, and became known as 20 Mile Post - 20 miles from the next trading post at

. It later was renamed Irvine in honour of Colonel A. Irvine, a commissioner of the North-West Mounted Police who served with General F.D. Middleton during the North-West Rebellion of 1885. In early May 1883, the push was on to complete the Canadian Pacific Railway line from just east of

Walsh Walsh may refer to: People and fictional characters * Walsh (surname), including a list of people and fictional characters with the surname Places * Fort Walsh, one of the first posts of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police * Walsh, Ontario, Norfolk ...

to Medicine Hat. Crews of

gandy dancer Gandy dancer is a slang term used for early Rail transport, railroad workers in the United States, more formally referred to as "section hands", who laid and maintained Track (rail transport), railroad tracks in the years before the work was don ...

s worked hard, building the rail line through 20 Mile Post, and reaching Medicine Hat on May 31. Trains brought Europeans with high hopes for their futures to the area. Today, lengthy freight trains roll through Irvine in the blink of an eye. Many German-Russian settlers homesteaded in the area and some of their descendants remain in and around Irvine to this day. The century-old St. George's Parish Cemetery bares evidence of this history. Prior to September 1, 1905, the community was within the jurisdiction of the

Assiniboia Assiniboia District refers to two historical districts of Canada's Northwest Territories. The name is taken from the Assiniboine First Nation. Historical usage ''For more information on the history of the provisional districts, see also Distri ...

District of the Northwest Territories. It then became part of the Province of

. Irvine was once a thriving community, complete with an elected mayor and town council, several churches, businesses, etc. Several grain elevators once thrust their lofty towers to the sky. Blacksmith shops were kept busy making and repairing equipment for local ranchers and farmers. Agriculture is the mainstay of the district's economy. When Primere Getty (elected 1985) Changed the number of population required to be a town, Irvine was downgraded to a hamlet, the loss of autonomy, external centralized bylaws/enforcement and taxation discouraged businesses to relocate or to start up in Irvine. Over the decades, however, the demographic has aged and the town businesses closed their doors one by one, and the school was down graded (county decision after the school fire) from K-12 to a K-9 and the grain elevators demolished and rebuilt at the county seat the hamlet has Faltered. There is one surviving church, the old town office building on the main street occupied by a quaint restaurant, the historic Irvine bar, the complex (hockey and curling), Museum and several small businesses.

Geography

An unusual geological formation was discovered northeast of Irvine when Google Earth images showed what has become known as the

Badlands Guardian The Badlands Guardian is a geomorphological feature located near Medicine Hat in the southeast corner of Alberta, Canada. The feature was discovered in 2005 by Lynn Hickox through use of Google Earth. Description Viewed from the air, the fea ...

, a shape in the land that looks like a

North American Indian The Indigenous peoples of the Americas are the inhabitants of the Americas before the arrival of the European settlers in the 15th century, and the ethnic groups who now identify themselves with those peoples. Many Indigenous peoples of the Am ...

wearing a feathered warbonnet.

Demographics

Cypress County indicates that the population of the Hamlet of Irvine was 307 in the 2016 Census, a change of from its 2011 population of 291.

Arts and culture

During the September long weekend, Irvine is home to the 20 Mile Post Days. This annual event includes a pancake breakfast hosted by the

Lions Club The International Association of Lions Clubs, more commonly known as Lions Clubs International, is an international non-political service organization established originally in 1916 in Chicago, Illinois, by Melvin Jones. It is now headquartere ...

, a parade, craft show and bench show, a Cowboy Church and a rodeo. It is known as 20 Mile Post Days because it is approximately from Medicine Hat.

Attractions

Irvine is home to the Prairie Memories Museum, where visitors can wander through a "town square" setting to see an early 20th-century church, a one-room school house, a family home, old cabin and lumber store, as well as a small railway memorabilia collection. The museum building, housed in the former immigration hall, has a respectable historical collection.

Infrastructure

Amenities in Irvine include a library, school pre-k to grade 9, a church, small hotel / bar, a hockey arena and curling rinks.

Education

Irvine features a school (kindergarten through grade 9).

References

{{Alberta, hamlets=yes Cypress County Hamlets in Alberta Former towns in Alberta Populated places disestablished in 1996