Rimbey is a town in central

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. It is located at the junction of Highways 20 and 53 in the

Blindman River The Blindman River is in south-central Alberta. It forms south of Winfield and flows southeastward before joining the Red Deer River near Red Deer. The Blindman is bridged by Alberta Highway 20 a number of times in its upper reaches, before passi ...

valley area approximately northwest of

Red Deer The red deer (''Cervus elaphus'') is one of the largest deer species. A male red deer is called a stag or hart, and a female is called a hind. The red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Anatolia, Iran, and parts of wes ...

and southwest 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 ...

. Provincially, Rimbey is part of the

Rimbey-Rocky Mountain House-Sundre Rimbey-Rocky Mountain House-Sundre is a provincial electoral district in central Alberta, Canada. The district was created in the 2010 boundary redistribution and is mandated to return a single member to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta using ...

electoral district and federally in the

Wetaskiwin Wetaskiwin ( ) is a city in the province of Alberta, Canada. The city is located south of the provincial capital of Edmonton. The city name comes from the Cree word ''wītaskiwinihk'', meaning "the hills where peace was made". Wetaskiwin is ...

riding.

History

Officially made a community in 1902, the first name given to the settlement at the turn of the century was Kansas Ridge as many of the settlers originated from the

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

state of

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

. Among them were the three Rimbey brothers (Sam, Ben, and Jim) for whom the town was officially named after in 1904. The Rimbeys moved to Canada from

Scott County, Illinois Scott County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2010 census, it had a population of 5,355, making it the fourth-least populous county in Illinois. Its county seat is Winchester. Scott County is part of the Ja ...

having moved to Illinois in the 1830s from

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

. They were born in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. In 1919 the Lacombe and Blindman Valley Electric Railway (later part of the

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 ...

) reached Rimbey, and there was much enthusiasm for the "new town" by the tracks (now Highway 20). Two

grain A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit (caryopsis) – with or without an attached hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and legum ...

companies built

elevators An elevator or lift is a cable-assisted, hydraulic cylinder-assisted, or roller-track assisted machine that vertically transports people or freight between floors, levels, or decks of a building, vessel, or other structure. They are ...

the following year and Rimbey's population swelled to 319 by 1921. The

Second World War 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 ...

brought abrupt changes to Rimbey, as young men and sometimes their families left the village. When war was over some returned and others did not. Many new faces came to Rimbey and the population surged to 634 by 1946.

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; french: Statistique Canada), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and cultur ...

, the Town of Rimbey had a population of 2,470 living in 1,084 of its 1,180 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 2,567. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021. In the 2016 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, the Town of Rimbey recorded a population of 2,567 living in 1,077 of its 1,160 total private dwellings, a change from its 2011 population of 2,378. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2016.

Economy

Rimbey is mainly a

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 people to ...

community, with the oil and gas sector increasing in importance. The town has full amenities including hotels, motels, several grocery, convenience, and liquor stores and a campground. Rimbey has its own hospital and ambulance (although more specialized procedures are sent to Red Deer, Calgary or Edmonton) and its own detachment of the

Royal Canadian Mounted Police The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; french: Gendarmerie royale du Canada; french: GRC, label=none), commonly known in English as the Mounties (and colloquially in French as ) is the federal police, federal and national police service of ...

Attractions

Pas-Ka-Poo Park includes large open lawns, a historical village site, museums and a wide array of interesting displays, including the World's Largest Collection of

International Trucks Navistar, Inc is an American holding company created in 1986 as the successor to International Harvester. Navistar operates as the owner of International-branded trucks and diesel engines. The company also produces buses under the IC Bus br ...

in the Smithson International Truck Museum. The Rimbey Golf & Trailer Park was located south. The golf course has since been closed down, due to flooding. The town had an outdoor

swimming pool A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, paddling pool, or simply pool, is a structure designed to hold water to enable Human swimming, swimming or other leisure activities. Pools can be built into the ground (in-ground pools) or built ...

open from May to September every year, which has been rebuilt as a junior olympic pool with a beach entrance, two hot tubs, a double loop waterslide and a splash pad for toddlers up to 15 years of age. The Beatty House is a historical house in the centre of town and can be booked for tours or to house social events. There are also a couple of smaller public parks (designed for children) around town.

Education

Operated by the Wolf Creek School Division No. 72, the Rimbey Elementary School, the Rimbey Junior-Senior High School, and the West Country Outreach School provide education within Rimbey. The town is also home to the Rimbey Christian School, a private school that offers learning for students in K-9. The Rimbey Nursery School offers play-based programs for children 3 to 5 years old.

Media

The town newspaper is the ''Rimbey Review''. The ''Review'' commenced publishing on January 27, 1997 and was owned by Sylvan Lake News. The paper was sold to Black Press in 2005. The ''Rimbey Review'' succeeded the ''Rimbey Record'', which had been publishing since the early 1930s. The ''Record'' was cited, in 1937, for its assistance in a series for the Edmonton Journal, which won that paper a Pulitzer prize. The ''Rimbey Record'' was, at its demise, part of a chain of newspapers, under the banner Record Publishing that failed financially after an unsuccessful attempt to go public. The town had one radio station VF8020 on 93.3 MHz, which was owned by The Church of Nazarene of Rimbey.

Notable people

* Harry Lang, professional wrestler best known as Cowboy Lang *

Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman (born October 21, 1984) is a Canadian actor, model, and television personality. He is known for appearances in films and television, most notably as Jay in the Lifetime dark comedy-drama series ''Unreal'' (2015–2018) and ...

, actor *

Myrna Pearman Myrna is the anglicization, anglicized form of the Irish language, Irish name ''Muirne'' and may refer to: *Myrna Anselma (1936–2008), Dutch Antillean fencer *Myrna Blyth (born 1939), American editor and writer *Myrna Brown (1959–2007), African ...

naturalist and author.

References

External links

* {{Subdivisions of Alberta, towns=yes 1919 establishments in Alberta Ponoka County Towns in Alberta