Craddock is a former unincorporated community in

southern Alberta Southern Alberta is a region located in the Canadian province of Alberta. In 2016, the region's population was approximately 291,112. The primary cities are Lethbridge and Medicine Hat. The region is known mostly for agricultural production, but o ...

, Canada within the County of Warner No. 5. It is located between the Village of

Stirling Stirling (; ; ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Central Belt, central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town#Scotland, market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the roya ...

and the Hamlet of New Dayton, approximately southeast of the City of

Lethbridge Lethbridge ( ) is a city in the province of Alberta, Canada. With a population of 106,550 in the 2023 Alberta municipal censuses, 2023 municipal census, Lethbridge became the fourth Alberta city to surpass 100,000 people. The nearby Canadian ...

on Highway 4.

History

Craddock was once a shipping and delivery point for

Alberta Wheat Pool The Alberta Wheat Pool was the first of Canada's wheat agricultural cooperative, farmer co-operatives in 1923. History Early years In 1923, the United Farmers of Alberta met with then Attorney General John Edward Brownlee to consider setting up ...

and had two

grain elevator A grain elevator or grain terminal is a facility designed to stockpile or store grain. In the grain trade, the term "grain elevator" also describes a tower containing a bucket elevator or a pneumatic conveyor, which scoops up grain from a lowe ...

s, very little remains of the former community except for one of the two elevators. On January 15, 2002 the larger Alberta Pool elevator was destroyed and burned to the ground by

arson Arson is the act of willfully and deliberately setting fire to or charring property. Although the act of arson typically involves buildings, the term can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, watercr ...

. The elevator was only 20 years old at the time of the incident.

Education

Originally named Craddock and formed on February 15, 1917, the district name was changed to Bluesky in 1947. The Bluesky School District No. 3456 was a

one room schoolhouse One-room schoolhouses, or One-room schools, have been commonplace throughout rural portions of various countries, including Prussia, Norway, Sweden, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Portugal, and Spa ...

that once stood at

township A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...

33 - 81 - 2 - W6.

Regional attractions

The Devil's Coulee Dinosaur Heritage Museum features a

Hadrosaur Hadrosaurids (), also hadrosaurs or duck-billed dinosaurs, are members of the ornithischian family Hadrosauridae. This group is known as the duck-billed dinosaurs for the flat duck-bill appearance of the bones in their snouts. The ornithopod fami ...

(duck-billed dinosaur) nest and embryo, ancient fossils, dinosaur models, located in the

Warner Warner can refer to: People * Warner (writer) * Warner (given name) * Warner (surname) Fictional characters * Yakko, Wakko, and Dot Warner, stars of the animated television series ''Animaniacs'' * Aaron Warner, a character in '' Shatter M ...

. The ''

Galt Historic Railway Park The Galt Historic Railway Park, collects, preserves, restores, exhibits and interprets artifacts which represent the history and social impact of the "steam" era in southern Alberta and the coal era, with emphasis on Galt Railway and the 1890 In ...

'' located 1 km north of

is another popular museum which displays of life and travel in the 1880s to 1920s are set up in the restored 1890

North West Territories The Northwest Territories is a federal territory of Canada. At a land area of approximately and a 2021 census population of 41,070, it is the second-largest and the most populous of the three territories in Northern Canada. Its estimated pop ...

International Train Station from

Coutts, Alberta Coutts ( ) is a village in southern Alberta, Canada that is a port of entry into the U.S. state of Montana. It is one of the busiest ports of entry on the Canada–United States border in western Canada. It connects Highway 4 to Interstate 15, ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

and

Sweetgrass, Montana Sweet Grass is a census-designated place and unincorporated community in Toole County, Montana, United States, on the Canada–US border. It is the northern terminus of Interstate 15, an important route connecting western Canada, the western U ...

, USA. The station was moved to the current location near Stirling in 2000 and is added onto every year. Future plans to move the 1925 Oglvie grain elevator from Wrentham for display along the station in the park is still in the planning stages. Stirling Agricultural Village is a

National Historic Site of Canada National Historic Sites of Canada () are places that have been designated by the federal Minister of the Environment on the advice of the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada (HSMBC), as being of national historic significance. Parks C ...

, and was listed as one of only three communities in

designated as a National Historic Site because it is the best surviving example of a Mormon agricultural village. Located within the village are two museums; the ''

Michelsen Farmstead The Andreas Michelsen Farmstead was originally built as a two-room house in 1902 by Andreas Michelsen. In 1912, an addition to the home was made, resulting in a total of seven rooms, and little has changed since. The homestead consists of a 1 1/2 ...

,'' a totally restored 1900s home showcasing rural life in Alberta in the 1930s, listed as a Provincial Historic Site in 2001, and the

. The Warner elevator row is a row of historic wood-cribbed

grain elevators A grain elevator or grain terminal is a facility designed to stockpile or store grain. In the grain trade, the term "grain elevator" also describes a tower containing a bucket elevator or a pneumatic conveyor, which scoops up grain from a lowe ...

. A total of six elevators still stand in a row from south to north alongside 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 ...

on the east entrance of the village of

. Due to the loss of a vast amount of Alberta's many grain elevators, the elevator row in Warner remains the very last row of elevators in Alberta. Only two elevator rows remain in Canada, Warner's row and the elevators in

Inglis, Manitoba Inglis is a local urban district in the Rural Municipality of Riding Mountain West, Manitoba, Canada. Located on Provincial Road 366. approximately east of Highway 83 between Russell and Roblin, Inglis is the closest community to the Asess ...

Waterton Lakes National Park Waterton Lakes National Park is in the southwest corner of Alberta, Canada. The national park borders Glacier National Park in Montana, United States. Waterton was the fourth Canadian national park, formed in 1895 as Kootenay Lakes Forest Reserve ...

is a National Park located in the extreme southwest corner of Alberta, Canada, 40 km west of

Cardston Cardston is a town in Alberta, Canada. It was first settled in 1887 by members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) who travelled from Utah, via the Macleod-Benton Trail, to present-day Alberta in one of the century ...

, and borders Glacier National Park in Montana, USA.

Waterton Lake Waterton Lake () is a mountain lake in southern Alberta, Canada, and northern Montana, United States. The lake is composed of two bodies of water, connected by a shallow channel known locally as the Bosporus. The two parts are referred to as Middl ...

s was Canada's fourth National Park formed in 1895. The

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in great-circle distance, straight-line distance from the northernmost part of Western Can ...

rise suddenly out of the rolling prairies in the park. Amid the peaks are the three

s, carved out of the rock by ancient

glacier A glacier (; or ) is a persistent body of dense ice, a form of rock, that is constantly moving downhill under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires ...

Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park is located about southeast of Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada, or east of the community of Milk River, and straddles the Milk River itself. It is one of the largest areas of protected prairie in the Alberta park s ...

, is one of the largest areas of protected prairie in the Alberta park system, and serves as both a

nature preserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, funga, or features of geolog ...

and protection for the largest concentration of

rock art In archaeology, rock arts are human-made markings placed on natural surfaces, typically vertical stone surfaces. A high proportion of surviving historic and prehistoric rock art is found in caves or partly enclosed rock shelters; this type al ...

, created by Plains People. There are over 50 rock art sites, with thousands of figures, as well as numerous archeological sites.

References

{{coord, 49, 27, 53, N, 112, 26, 59, W, type:city_region:CA-AB, name=Craddock, display=title Ghost towns in Alberta Localities in the County of Warner No. 5

History

Education

Regional attractions

See also

References