Opal 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 ...
in
central Alberta
Central Alberta is a region located in the Canadian province of Alberta.
Central Alberta is the most densely populated rural area in the province. Agriculture and energy are important to the area's economy.
Geography
Central Alberta is bordere ...
, Canada within
Thorhild County
Thorhild County is a municipal district located in the central part of northern Alberta, Canada in Census Division 13. It was incorporated in 1955. It changed its name from the ''County of Thorhild No. 7'' to ''Thorhild County'' on March 20, 2 ...
. It is located north of
Highway 28, approximately northeast of
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 ...
. Originally named Rutherford after Alberta's first premier,
Alexander Cameron Rutherford
Alexander Cameron Rutherford (February 2, 1857 – June 11, 1941) was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the first premier of Alberta from 1905 to 1910. Born in Ormond, Canada West, he studied and practiced law in Ottawa before ...
but was renamed to the unique "Opal" when the first post office opened on November 15, 1912.
In the late 1920s and early 1930s, Opal had a Roman Catholic Church (built in 1915), grain elevator (built 1918 by the Gillespie Grain Company), general store,
International Harvester Company
The International Harvester Company (often abbreviated by IHC, IH, or simply International ( colloq.)) was an American manufacturer of agricultural and construction equipment, automobiles, commercial trucks, lawn and garden products, household e ...
dealership, hardware store, lumber yard, blacksmith,
Massey-Harris
Massey Ferguson Limited is an American agricultural machinery manufacturer. The company was established in 1953 through the merger of farm equipment makers Massey-Harris of Canada and the Ferguson Company of the United Kingdom. It was based in T ...
dealership, meat market, hotel (built in 1938), community hall, pool hall, railway station and school. In November 1954 the Opal Church
Opal Church
/ref> was moved to Redwater.
Demographics
The population of Opal was 24, as of a 2009 census conducted by Thorhild County.[
]
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 ...
*List of hamlets in Alberta
Hamlets in the province of Alberta, Canada, are unincorporated communities administered by, and within the boundaries of, specialized municipalities or rural municipalities ( municipal districts, improvement districts and special areas). The ...
References
Hamlets in Alberta
Thorhild County
{{CentralAlberta-geo-stub