Bentley is a town in
central 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 ...
, Canada within
Lacombe County. It is located on
Highway 12, 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 (deer), hart, and a female is called a doe or hind. The red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Anatolia, Ir ...
.
History
The first settlers came from the U.S. in 1888-1890 and either walked or drove oxen from
Lacombe, which was the closest railroad station at that time. Post office opened in 1901. The first church was built in 1890 by the Methodists, and a schoolhouse was built in 1903. Bentley was
incorporated as a village on March 17, 1915.
A disastrous fire destroyed all buildings on the south side of the community in 1916. The centre roadway was made wide and new buildings could not be constructed inside that area. In 1930, a centre boulevard was constructed for fire protection and street lights installed.
Bentley was incorporated as a town on January 1, 2001.
[
]
Town name
Bentley was named in honour of George Bentley, an early homesteader and sawyer, however at the time it was a controversial choice. When Major William B. McPherson, a U.S. Civil War veteran, opened a post office, settlers preferred McPherson's name, but they were outnumbered by the sawmill employees, who wanted Bentley.
Demographics
In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada
Statistics Canada (StatCan; ), 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 culture. It is headquartered in ...
, the Town of Bentley had a population of 1,042 living in 451 of its 471 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 1,078. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.
Education
Bentley has one public school, Bentley School (Pre-K to grade 12), administered by Wolf Creek Public Schools.
Notable people
* Dick Damron, country music singer, songwriter.
* Perry Turnbull, former NHL
The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...
player with the St. Louis Blues and ice hockey coach
* Clayton Beddoes, former NHL
The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...
player with the Boston Bruins
The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The t ...
and ice hockey coach
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 towns in Alberta
A town is an List of communities in Alberta#Urban municipalities, urban municipality status type used in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. Alberta towns are created when communities with populations of at le ...
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
1915 establishments in Alberta
Towns in Alberta