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Retlaw 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 ...
located in the
Municipal District of Taber The Municipal District of Taber is a municipal district (MD) in southern Alberta, Canada. It is located in Census Division 2. Geography Communities and localities The following urban municipalities are surrounded by the MD of Taber. ; ...
,
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 community once had a peak population of over 250 citizens and was even incorporated under the
status Status (Latin plural: ''statūs''), is a state, condition, or situation, and may refer to: * Status (law) ** City status ** Legal status, in law ** Political status, in international law ** Small entity status, in patent law ** Status confere ...
of a
village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred ...
until it was dissolved into a hamlet under the jurisdiction of Improvement District No. 96 on March 1, 1939. Retlaw is located 2 km (1 mi) west of Highway 864 6 km (3 mi) west of
Vauxhall Vauxhall ( ) is a district in South West London, part of the London Borough of Lambeth, England. Vauxhall was part of Surrey until 1889 when the County of London was created. Named after a medieval manor, "Fox Hall", it became well known for ...
and 42 km (26 mi) northwest of Taber and 75 km (46 mi) southwest of
Brooks Brooks may refer to: Places ;Antarctica *Cape Brooks ;Canada *Brooks, Alberta ;United States * Brooks, Alabama * Brooks, Arkansas *Brooks, California *Brooks, Georgia * Brooks, Iowa * Brooks, Kentucky * Brooks, Maine * Brooks Township, Michigan ...
.


History

In 1910, the original post-office in the region was originally called "Barney." Three years later, when the Canadian Pacific Railway station arrived, however, it was dubbed "Retlaw". The name was selected as a tribute to Walter R. Baker, a CPR official, as "Retlaw" is "Walter" spelled backwards. Retlaw was expected to be a large community in its area, with features of similarly sized communities of its time including four
grain elevators A grain elevator is a facility designed to stockpile or store grain. In the grain trade, the term "grain elevator" also describes a tower containing a bucket elevator or a pneumatic conveyor, which scoops up grain from a lower level and deposits ...
, a
pool hall A billiard, pool or snooker hall (or parlour, room or club; sometimes compounded as poolhall, poolroom, etc.) is a place where people get together for playing cue sports such as pool, snooker or carom billiards. Such establishments commonly ser ...
,
hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a re ...
,
CPR Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is an emergency procedure consisting of chest compressions often combined with artificial ventilation in an effort to manually preserve intact brain function until further measures are taken to restore sponta ...
railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prep ...
, churches,
blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such as gates, gr ...
, and a number of other businesses.Fryer, Harold. Ghost Towns of Alberta. Langley: Stagecoach Publishing Co. Ltd., 1976.p.50-51. Due to the
Province of Alberta A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outs ...
bringing an
irrigation canal An acequia () or séquia () is a community-operated watercourse used in Spain and former Spanish colonization of America, Spanish colonies in the Americas for irrigation. Particularly in Spain, the Andes, northern Mexico, and the modern-day A ...
that passed the nearby Town of
Vauxhall Vauxhall ( ) is a district in South West London, part of the London Borough of Lambeth, England. Vauxhall was part of Surrey until 1889 when the County of London was created. Named after a medieval manor, "Fox Hall", it became well known for ...
in the 1920s, Retlaw was left in a dry land state causing the community to die off. By 1925 most of the Retlaw's
inhabitants Domicile is relevant to an individual's "personal law," which includes the law that governs a person's status and their property. It is independent of a person's nationality. Although a domicile may change from time to time, a person has only one ...
moved out into neighbouring communities, searching for a better way of life, some even bringing their homes and business with them. By 1957, only two families were left. Today very little is left of Retlaw. Only the restored Retlaw Union/United Church, a
community centre 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 ...
, two houses, the
blacksmith shop A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such as gates, gr ...
and a few foundations remain.


Retlaw Union/United Church

Retlaw Church is an old Victorian style
church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * C ...
located in the
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 ...
of Retlaw, Alberta. The church was built in the 1910s. The church, like the town, had sat empty and neglected for many years until the 1980s when local farmers came together and restored the church to its former glory. Every year the church holds family events such as
Christmas dinner Christmas dinner is a meal traditionally eaten at Christmas. This meal can take place any time from the evening of Christmas Eve to the evening of Christmas Day itself. The meals are often particularly rich and substantial, in the tradition of ...
s,
plays Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * P ...
, and church services on Sunday.


See also

*
List of communities in Alberta The province of Alberta, Canada, is divided into ten types of Local government in Canada, local governments – urban municipalities (including List of cities in Alberta, cities, List of towns in Alberta, towns, List of villages in Alberta, vil ...
*
List of former urban municipalities in Alberta The Province of Alberta currently has 256 urban municipalities including 19 cities, 106 towns, 80 villages and 51 summer villages. In addition, there are 100 communities that previously held some form of urban municipality status. These include ...
*
List of ghost towns in Alberta A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to: People * List (surname) Organizations * List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America * SC Germania List, German rugby unio ...
*
List of geographic names derived from anagrams and ananyms These are geographic anagrams and anadromes. Anagrams are rearrangements of the letters of another name or word. Anadrome An anadrome is a word whose spelling is derived by reversing the spelling of another word. It is therefore a special type ...


References


External links


Municipal District of Taber
- Official site {{coord, 50, 04, 08, N, 112, 15, 48, W, region:CA-AB_type:city, name=Retlaw, display=title Ghost towns in Alberta Former villages in Alberta Localities in the Municipal District of Taber Populated places established in 1913 1913 establishments in Alberta