Raley, Alberta is an
unincorporated community
An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...
in
Cardston County
Cardston County is a municipal district in southern Alberta, Canada. It is located in Census Division 3 around the Town of Cardston.
The municipal district was established on January 1, 1954, through the amalgamation of the ''Municipal Dist ...
,
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. The population of Raley was 5 in 1966. The community is located about 4 km north 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 about 15 km east of the Town of
Cardston
Cardston is a town in Alberta, Canada. It was first settled in 1887 by members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) who travelled from Utah, via the Macleod-Benton Trail, to present-day Alberta in one of the century's ...
. Raley is named after C. Raley, of
Lethbridge
Lethbridge ( ) is a city in the province of Alberta, Canada. With a population of 101,482 in its 2019 Alberta municipal censuses, 2019 municipal census, Lethbridge became the fourth Alberta city to surpass 100,000 people. The nearby Canadian ...
.
Alberta Pacific Elevator Co. Ltd. elevator
The Alberta Pacific Elevator at Raley was built as a 35,000 bushel elevator and is likely the oldest standing elevator in Alberta constructed shortly after the St. Mary Railway line (succeeded by
Canadian Pacific Railway
The Canadian Pacific Railway (french: Chemin de fer Canadien Pacifique) , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadi ...
) was constructed in 1900 from
Stirling
Stirling (; sco, Stirlin; gd, Sruighlea ) is a city in central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the royal citadel, the medieval old town with its me ...
to
Cardston
Cardston is a town in Alberta, Canada. It was first settled in 1887 by members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) who travelled from Utah, via the Macleod-Benton Trail, to present-day Alberta in one of the century's ...
and finished in 1902. The post office opened in 1910.
The elevator was built in 1905 by the Alberta Pacific Elevator Co. Ltd. A permanent cribbed annex was added to the elevator in 1940. In 1967 the elevator became part of the Federal Line of elevators. Then in 1972 the elevator was taken over by the
Alberta Wheat Pool
The Alberta Wheat Pool was the first of Canada's wheat farmer co-operatives in 1923.
History
Early years
In 1923, the United Farmers of Alberta met with then Attorney General John Edward Brownlee to consider setting up a Wheat Pool just in Alb ...
but was closed very shortly afterwards and taken over by the
Hutterite
Hutterites (german: link=no, Hutterer), also called Hutterian Brethren (German: ), are a communal ethnoreligious group, ethnoreligious branch of Anabaptism, Anabaptists, who, like the Amish and Mennonites, trace their roots to the Radical Refor ...
colony
In modern parlance, a colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule. Though dominated by the foreign colonizers, colonies remain separate from the administration of the original country of the colonizers, the ''metropole, metropolit ...
at Raley. This elevator has high architectural significance as it is an excellent and the only unaltered example of an Alberta Pacific Elevator Co. 35,000 bushel capacity elevator.
The Alberta Pacific elevator at Raley was the first of a number of elevators operating by 1911. It is the only one that has survived, probably because it is now in private hands. By 1911 there were two other elevators at Raley, one was a 30,000 bushel elevator built by A.G. Robertson and the other a 15,000 bushel elevator operated by Sunny Belt Grain Elevator Co. Ltd. This was upgraded to a 30,000 bushel house in 1917.
In 1924 the Raley Hutterite colony took over the A.G. Robertson elevator and in 1940 the Alberta Pacific Grain Co. took over the Sunny belt elevator, by this time owned by the N. Bawlf Grain Co. It was operated in conjunction with the original elevator. Both elevators went to the Alberta Wheat Pool in 1972. There was a fourth elevator at Raley, an Alberta Pool Elevator 40,000 bushel house built in 1929. This elevator disappears from the records by the late 1930s. The Sunny belt and A.g. Robertson elevators were demolished sometime after 1972.
See also
*
List of communities in Alberta
The province of Alberta, Canada, is divided into ten types of local governments – urban municipalities (including cities, towns, villages and summer villages), specialized municipalities, rural municipalities (including municipal district ...
References
External links
Ghost Towns Canada. Photo Gallery Of Canadian Ghost Towns. Online. August 18. 2008.
{{Geographic location
, Centre = Raley
, North =
Stand Off
, Northeast =
Lethbridge
Lethbridge ( ) is a city in the province of Alberta, Canada. With a population of 101,482 in its 2019 Alberta municipal censuses, 2019 municipal census, Lethbridge became the fourth Alberta city to surpass 100,000 people. The nearby Canadian ...
, East =
Magrath
, Southeast =
Del Bonita
, South =
Woolford
, Southwest =
Cardston
Cardston is a town in Alberta, Canada. It was first settled in 1887 by members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) who travelled from Utah, via the Macleod-Benton Trail, to present-day Alberta in one of the century's ...
, West =
Hill Spring
Hill Spring is a village in southern Alberta, Canada. It is located west of Cardston and southeast of Pincher Creek, in the foothills of the Canadian Rockies.
History
Hill Spring was founded in 1910 by Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day S ...
, Northwest =
Fort Macleod
Fort Macleod ( ) is a town in southern Alberta, Canada. It was originally named Macleod to distinguish it from the North-West Mounted Police barracks (Fort Macleod, built 1874) it had grown around. The fort was named in honour of the then Commis ...
Latter-day Saint settlements in Canada
Localities in Cardston County