McKernan is a neighbourhood located in southwest

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

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 Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. It is named for John McKernan, a prominent businessman in the

City of Strathcona Strathcona was a city in Alberta, Canada on the south side of the North Saskatchewan River. Originally founded in 1891, it amalgamated with the City of Edmonton in 1912. History Strathcona's recorded history began in the 1870s. Its first r ...

whose parents' farm was located there beginning in the late 1870s. "Jack" McKernan (1870-1918) was the force behind the Princess Theatre, which still stands on Whyte Avenue. The McKernan-Belgravia LRT station is located in the west portion of the neighbourhood at the northwest corner of 114 Street and 76 Avenue, adjacent to neighbouring

Belgravia Belgravia () is a Districts of London, district in Central London, covering parts of the areas of both the City of Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Belgravia was known as the 'Five Fields' Tudor Period, during the ...

. The community is near to both the

University of Alberta The University of Alberta, also known as U of A or UAlberta, is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford,"A Gentleman of Strathcona – Alexander Cameron Rutherfor ...

and

Old Strathcona Old Strathcona is a historic district in south-central Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Once the commercial core of the separate city of Strathcona, the area is now home to many of Edmonton's arts and entertainment facilities, as well as a local s ...

. The community is represented by the McKernan

Community League A neighborhood council (also known as a community league) is a governmental or non-governmental body, whose purpose is to promote citizen participation in local government.Martin Minogue, ''Documents on Contemporary British Government: Volume 2, L ...

, established in 1932, which maintains a

community hall Community centres, community centers, or community halls are public locations where members of a community tend to gather for group activities, social support, public information, and other purposes. They may sometimes be open for the whole co ...

and outdoor rink located at 113 Street and 78 Avenue.

History

The land that is now the neighbourhood of McKernan was sparsely settled for many decades, even after the first Euro-Canadians arrived in 1870s. Prior to their arrival, the area held a portion of the "hangers-on" that settled around Fort Edmonton. Robert McKernan paid $250 for the land that was "claimed" (by what process it was "claimed", is not clear at this point) by a frontier (probably Metis) businessman by the name of Emileau. Farms, such as the McKernan's, established in the 1870s were only gradually replaced by houses. The area was annexed by the

, and subdivision and development was proposed. However the 1912-1913 financial collapse ended these plans, and development progressed only in fits and starts until the 1940s brought mass changes. The area encompassed McKernan Lake. This large

slough Slough () is a town and unparished area in the unitary authority of the same name in Berkshire, England, bordering west London. It lies in the Thames Valley, west of central London and north-east of Reading, at the intersection of the M4 ...

, located south of 76 Avenue, was a popular summertime picnic and boating spot, and in wintertime was the site of many skating parties. From 1913 to 1948, the Edmonton Radial Railway's streetcar, nicknamed the Toonerville Trolley, ran from 82 Avenue south on 110 Street, then along 76 Avenue along the lake to the end of the line at 116 Street. "Development of the area was delayed until McKernan Lake was drained during the 1940s." The bulk of residential construction in McKernan occurred in the first two decades following

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Residences in modern McKernan are a mixture of single-family dwellings and

duplexes A duplex house plan has two living units attached to each other, either next to each other as townhouses, condominiums or above each other like apartments. By contrast, a building comprising two attached units on two distinct properties is ...

. Infill housing is replacing many of the original houses. Streets are still lined with

American elm ''Ulmus americana'', generally known as the American elm or, less commonly, as the white elm or water elm, is a species of elm native to eastern North America, naturally occurring from Nova Scotia west to Alberta and Montana, and south to Flor ...

trees.

Demographics

In the City of Edmonton's 2014 municipal census, McKernan had a population of living in dwellings.

Transportation

McKernan is one of two neighbourhoods served by the McKernan/Belgravia LRT Station. The station was officially opened on April 25, 2009, with regular service commencing on April 26, 2009.

Schools

McKernan School was opened in 1951 and offers both English and French immersion programs from kindergarten to Grade 9. As well, it is the only Edmonton Public school to offer a late

French immersion French immersion is a form of bilingual education in which students who do not speak French as a first language will receive instruction in French. In most French-immersion schools, students will learn to speak French and learn most subjects s ...

program beginning in Grade 7, and the only Edmonton Public school to offer a Spanish bilingual program from Grade 7 to 9.

Parks

The community features three parks that include playground equipment and open spaces: McKernan Park, with a spray deck installed in 2012; Gowan Park, near McKernan School; and Charles Simmonds Park, which borders Belgravia. A small ‘pocket park’ is located at University Avenue and 112 Street, and is maintained by volunteers from McKernan and South Garneau.

Shopping and services

At the intersection of 76 Avenue and 115 Street, McKernan shares the convenience of a small neighbourhood commercial area with the adjacent Belgravia neighbourhood. This strip consists of three lots with two buildings, and the empty lot has been turned into a garden/green space with numerous large iron sculptures and many local prairie flora. The corner building was built in 1948 of wood construction with stucco exterior, and consisted of two commercial bays on the main floor and three apartments on the second level. Originally, the southernmost bay was home to Rogers' drug store (the Rogers lived on the second floor) and the northernmost bay hosted Pridmore's Meat Shop. When the meat store closed down in the mid-1950s, the drug store took over the rest of the space and operated until 1976. The building was then sold to Monco Holdings Ltd., who has owned the property since then. Since 1976, the building has been home to various businesses including a Beauty Counsellor Franchise, the McPhee Workshop (a sewing and crafts studio), and a used bookseller/antiquariat called Belgravia Books & Treasures, which closed in 2012. In 2005-2006, the building was renovated from a neglected and dilapidated state after three years of vacancy by the current main floor tenants: a locally owned coffee house, Gracious Goods Cafe. The middle building was built in the mid-1950s with a concrete foundation and cinder-block wall construction. It was originally home to Purpur's Groceries, which operated as a full grocery until the Bateman's IGA opened a few blocks down 76 Avenue in McKernan. The store was renamed to Sunlight Foodland and operated as a neighbourhood convenience store until its closure in 2003. The back portion of the building was home to the Beaver Flats Pottery studios. A small commercial strip on 76 Avenue between 112 and 113 Street has hosted an independent pharmacy since the 1950s; it has been operating under the name Maurice Pharmacy since 1970. An Italian restaurant, Enzo's on 76, opened next door in 2013. Another building on the site housed the Bateman's IGA and The Edmonton Bookstore for many years, and was later a site for the Edmonton Catholic Schools' alternative high school program.

References

External links

McKernan Community League Website

McKernan Neighbourhood Profile

McKernan Christian Church

Surrounding neighbourhoods

{{Edmonton neighbourhoods Neighbourhoods in Edmonton