Valhalla Centre 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 ...

northern Alberta Northern Alberta is a geographic region located in the Canadian province of Alberta. An informally defined cultural region, the boundaries of Northern Alberta are not fixed. Under some schemes, the region encompasses everything north of the cen ...

, Canada within the

County of Grande Prairie No. 1 The County of Grande Prairie No. 1 is a municipal district in northwestern Alberta, Canada in Census Division No. 19. It is bounded on the south by the Wapiti River, on the east by the Smoky River and on the west by the province of British ...

. It is located in the

Peace River Country The Peace River Country (or Peace Country; french: Région de la Rivière-de-la-paix) is an aspen parkland region centring on the Peace River in Canada. It extends from northwestern Alberta to the Rocky Mountains in northeastern British Columbia ...

at the junction of Highway 59 and Highway 723, northeast of the Village of

Hythe Hythe, from Anglo-Saxon ''hȳð'', may refer to a landing-place, port or haven, either as an element in a toponym, such as Rotherhithe in London, or to: Places Australia * Hythe, Tasmania Canada *Hythe, Alberta, a village in Canada England * T ...

and west of the Town of Sexsmith. It is approximately east of the

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

border and has an elevation of . The hamlet is located in Census Division No. 19 and in the federal riding of

Peace River The Peace River (french: links=no, rivière de la Paix) is a river in Canada that originates in the Rocky Mountains of northern British Columbia and flows to the northeast through northern Alberta. The Peace River joins the Athabasca River in th ...

History

The hamlet was founded in 1912 by

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Swe ...

ns that moved north from Edson. It was named by Reverend Halvar N. Ronning after

Valhalla In Norse mythology Valhalla (;) is the anglicised name for non, Valhǫll ("hall of the slain").Orchard (1997:171–172) It is described as a majestic hall located in Asgard and presided over by the god Odin. Half of those who die in combat e ...

, Odin's hall in Norse mythology. The first post office was established in 1916. The settlement grew around a

creamery A creamery is a place where milk and cream are processed and where butter and cheese is produced. Cream is separated from whole milk; pasteurization is done to the skimmed milk and cream separately. Whole milk for sale has had some cream re ...

until 1945. The ''Melsness Mercantile'' building was built in 1925, and functioned as a store and post office until 1951. Today it hosts a museum dedicated to the Scandinavian heritage of the area, and was declared a Provincial Historic Site.

Demographics

In the

2021 Census of Population The 2021 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population with a reference date of May 11, 2021. It follows the 2016 Canadian census, which recorded a population of 35,151,728. The overall response rate was 98%, which is sli ...

conducted by Statistics Canada, Valhalla Centre had a population of 40 living in 19 of its 22 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 15. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021. As a designated place in the 2016 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Valhalla Centre had a population of 15 living in 9 of its 9 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2011 population of 45. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2016.

Economy

The economy is centred on

farming Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled peopl ...

and stock raising.

Amenities

The hamlet has a church (Valhalla Lutheran Church),

curling Curling is a sport in which players slide stones on a sheet of ice toward a target area which is segmented into four concentric circles. It is related to bowls, boules, and shuffleboard. Two teams, each with four players, take turns slidi ...

rink, skating rink, museum and K-8 school (Valhalla Community School). The school is one of 13 publicly funded Alberta Chartered Schools.

References

External links