Balzac is a
hamlet
''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...
in
Rocky View County
Rocky View County is a municipal district in southern Alberta, Canada that is named for its views of the nearby Rocky Mountains to the west. It surrounds most of Calgary, forming the city's northern boundary and most of the city's western and e ...
, which is in the
Calgary Metropolitan Region
The Calgary Metropolitan Region (CMR), also known as Greater Calgary or Metro Calgary is a conglomeration of municipalities centred on Calgary, the largest city in Alberta.
With the Government of Alberta's establishment of the Calgary Metropoli ...
of the
Canadian province
Canada has ten provinces and three territories that are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Constitution of Canada, Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British North Amer ...
of
Alberta
Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...
. It is located immediately west of
Queen Elizabeth II Highway, at the intersection with
Highway 566, north of
Calgary
Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...
city centre and south of
Airdrie.
The hamlet is located in
census division
Census divisions, in Canada and the United States, are areas delineated for the purposes of statistical analysis and presentation; they have no government in and of themselves. The census divisions of Canada are second-level census geographic uni ...
No. 6 and in the Alberta federal electoral district of
Banff—Airdrie (formerly in the federal electoral district of
Wild Rose).
As of July 31, 2007, Balzac is immediately adjacent to Calgary's northern city limits. Balzac is also directly west of the
CrossIron Mills shopping mall.
History
A
Canadian Pacific Railway
The Canadian Pacific Railway () , 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 Canadian Pacific Kansas City, Canadian Pacific Ka ...
station began operating at Balzac in 1910. It was named by
William Cornelius Van Horne
Sir William Cornelius Van Horne, (February 3, 1843September 11, 1915) was an American businessman, industrialist and railroad magnate who spent most of his career in Canada. He is famous for overseeing the construction of the first Canadian Tran ...
, then president of the
Canadian Pacific Railway
The Canadian Pacific Railway () , 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 Canadian Pacific Kansas City, Canadian Pacific Ka ...
, after one of his favourite authors,
Honoré de Balzac
Honoré de Balzac ( , more commonly ; ; born Honoré Balzac; 20 May 1799 – 18 August 1850) was a French novelist and playwright. The novel sequence ''La Comédie humaine'', which presents a panorama of post-Napoleonic French life, is ...
(1799–1850) a noted French novelist. The post office here was opened on April 1, 1912 under the name "Beddington" and was changed on July 1, 1925. The first warehouse was built in 1916, mostly for coal.
Canadian Senator and senate reform advocate
Bert Brown hails from Balzac.
Demographics
The population of Balzac according to the
2006 municipal census conducted by Rocky View County is 1.
[
]
Economy
* Although not officially located within Balzac, the hamlet is immediately adjacent to the CrossIron Mills shopping centre, which is the largest single-level mall in Alberta. The business park surrounding the mall, which opened in 2009, saw the addition of a horse-racing track and casino in 2015, and is earmarked for an equestrian college campus and other businesses. The mall and surrounding businesses are officially within the County of Rocky View, but the mall and business park is often referred to as being in Balzac because of its proximity to the hamlet.
* In early 2009, Wal-mart announced plans to spend million ($104.4 US million) to build a distribution center in the business park east of Balzac. The facility opened in late 2010 and acts as a distribution hub for fresh food in Western Canada.
* In late 2017 Amazon
Amazon most often refers to:
* Amazon River, in South America
* Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin
* Amazon (company), an American multinational technology company
* Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek myth ...
agreed to locate a distribution center. The facility is estimated to create 750 permanent jobs. According to Amazon's director of Canadian operations, Glenn Sommerville the location's proximity of the Calgary International Airport is optimal for faster shipping.
*The company Enterra has secured $30M to establish a breeding facility of insects such as the soldier black fly as a source for high protein animal feed. The facility will employ 30 staff and be operational in 2019.
* New Horizon Mall
New Horizon Mall is a shopping mall in the Calgary Metropolitan Region
The Calgary Metropolitan Region (CMR), also known as Greater Calgary or Metro Calgary is a conglomeration of municipalities centred on Calgary, the largest city in Alberta. ...
Media
Media may refer to:
Communication
* Means of communication, tools and channels used to deliver information or data
** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising
** Interactive media, media that is inter ...
Due to its close proximity to both Calgary and Airdrie, Balzac receives most media (television, radio, newspapers) from those two cities.
Balzac Billy, a Groundhog Day
Groundhog Day (, , , ; Lunenburg County, Nova Scotia, Lunenburg, Nova Scotia: Daks Day) is a tradition observed regionally in the United States and Canada on February 2 of every year. It derives from the Pennsylvania Dutch superstition that if ...
prognosticator, resides in the town.
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 hamlets in Alberta
Hamlet (place), Hamlets in the Canadian province of Alberta are Unincorporated area, unincorporated communities administered by, and within the boundaries of, Specialized municipalities of Alberta, specialized municipalities or List of communit ...
References
External links
Rocky View County's official websiteRocky View County's community profile on Alberta FirstCalgary-Edmonton Corridor in Alberta
{{Coord, display=title, name=Balzac, 51.21298, -114.00783, type:city(450)_region:CA-AB
Rocky View County
Hamlets in Alberta
Calgary Region