Maleb, formerly known as Conquerville, is a locality in

southern Alberta Southern Alberta is a region located in the Canadian province of Alberta. In 2004, the region's population was approximately 272,017.County of Forty Mile No. 8 The County of Forty Mile No. 8 is a municipal district in south eastern Alberta, Canada. It is located in Census Division 1, southwest of Medicine Hat. Its municipal office is located in the Village of Foremost. Geography Communities and ...

. It is approximately south of

Highway 3 The following highways are numbered 3, H-3, PRI-3, AH3, E03 and R3. For roads numbered A3, see A3 roads. For roads numbered M3, see M3. For roads numbered N3, see N3. For roads numbered 3A, see 3A. International * Asian Highway 3 * Europea ...

and southwest of

Medicine Hat Medicine Hat is a city in Southern Alberta, 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, Alberta, ...

History

Conquerville, now Maleb, was first established in the early 20th century, the area previously having been used by ranchers along the McLeod Trail destined for

Fort McLeod McLeod Lake is an unincorporated community located on Highway 97 in northern British Columbia, Canada, north of Prince George. It is notable for being the first continuously inhabited European settlement established west of the Rocky Mountains ...

. The route, which had been converted into a railway during the 1890s, brought many passengers and ranchers to the Conquerville area, including coal miners after coal was discovered in the area early in the 20th century. In 1909, Conquerville underwent an agricultural boom, which brought many farmers to the area. The

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

brought prosperity to Conquerville, with the 1915–16 harvest benefiting all; however, the post-war period saw the community fall on hard times. Disease ravaged the local cattle population, and

Spanish influenza The 1918–1920 influenza pandemic, commonly known by the misnomer Spanish flu or as the Great Influenza epidemic, was an exceptionally deadly global influenza pandemic caused by the H1N1 influenza A virus. The earliest documented case was ...

crippled many families. Grants to farmers, coupled with land grants to new residents supported by the government, led to a revival of the community. In 1945, the Conquerville school opened, which consolidated nine different school districts into one larger centralized district. In 1954, the community was electrified, and in 1965 the community celebrated the 50th anniversary of its founding, publishing a book, ''Conquerville: a growing community'', to celebrate. Starting in the 1980s, Conquerville began its decline. During these years, the local high school was closed due to a lack of enrollment and was partially destroyed by fire in 1992. Today all that remains of the community is a basketball court, baseball field, ruins of the high school, overgrown with weeds and now used for storage by a local farmer. The community hall still remains nearby, and is still used on the odd occasion. Only a few residents remain. It is believed that the farming community of the area began its fall when the school closed.

References

Localities in the County of Forty Mile No. 8 Populated places established in 1905 Ghost towns in Alberta 1905 establishments in Alberta {{SouthernAlberta-geo-stub

History

See also

References