Hanna is a town 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 bordered ...

, Canada, approximately 57 km northeast of the town of

Drumheller Drumheller is a town on the Red Deer River in the badlands of east-central Alberta, Canada. It is located northeast of Calgary and south of Stettler. The Drumheller portion of the Red Deer River valley, often referred to as Dinosaur Vall ...

. It is surrounded by Special Area No. 2 and the district office of the Alberta government's Special Areas administration is located in Hanna.

History

The town was first settled in 1912 and was incorporated in 1914. The

Canadian Northern Railway The Canadian Northern Railway (CNoR) was a historic Canada, Canadian transcontinental railway. At its 1923 merger into the Canadian National Railway , the CNoR owned a main line between Quebec City and Vancouver via Ottawa, Winnipeg, and Edmonto ...

's Goose Lake line running between Saskatoon to Calgary was built there at that time. Hanna was named after David Blyth Hanna, the third vice president of the

. It was a division point of the Canadian Northern Railway and had a 10-stall

railway roundhouse A railway roundhouse is a building with a circular or semicircular shape used by rail transport, railways for servicing and storing locomotives. Traditionally, though not always the case today, these buildings contained or were adjacent to a Rail ...

. The Depression-era drought hurt the area. In 1939 the Alberta government established a Special Area to provide additional support for residents in that part of the province.

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 Hanna had a population of 2,394 living in 1,100 of its 1,257 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 2,559. 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 Hanna recorded a population of 2,559 living in 1,149 of its 1,246 total private dwellings, a change from its 2011 population of 2,673. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2016.

Economy

The town's main industries are

agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

, oil production, power generation,

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...

, and

coal mining Coal mining is the process of resource extraction, extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its Energy value of coal, energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to Electricity generation, generate electr ...

. It is the centre of a large trading area called Short Grass County and is the home of approximately 200 businesses. Natural resources in the Hanna area are

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal i ...

petroleum Petroleum, also known as crude oil or simply oil, is a naturally occurring, yellowish-black liquid chemical mixture found in geological formations, consisting mainly of hydrocarbons. The term ''petroleum'' refers both to naturally occurring un ...

natural gas Natural gas (also fossil gas, methane gas, and gas) is a naturally occurring compound of gaseous hydrocarbons, primarily methane (95%), small amounts of higher alkanes, and traces of carbon dioxide and nitrogen, hydrogen sulfide and helium ...

, and

bentonite Bentonite ( ) is an Absorption (chemistry), absorbent swelling clay consisting mostly of montmorillonite (a type of smectite) which can either be Na-montmorillonite or Ca-montmorillonite. Na-montmorillonite has a considerably greater swelli ...

Notable people

Chad Kroeger Chad Robert Kroeger (, Turton; born November 15, 1974) is a Canadian musician who is best known for being the lead singer, lead guitarist, primary songwriter, and founding member of the rock band Nickelback. In addition to his work with Nic ...

, Mike Kroeger, Brandon Kroeger, and Ryan Peake, members of the rock band

Nickelback Nickelback is a Canadian Rock music, rock band formed in 1995 in Hanna, Alberta, Hanna, Alberta. Throughout its history, it has consisted of lead guitarist and lead vocalist Chad Kroeger, rhythm guitarist, keyboardist and backing vocalist Ryan ...

. The music video for the band’s song “

Photograph A photograph (also known as a photo, or more generically referred to as an ''image'' or ''picture'') is an image created by light falling on a photosensitivity, photosensitive surface, usually photographic film or an electronic image sensor. Th ...

” was filmed in Hanna, which features Chad Kroeger singing about his upbringing in the town. * Shirley McClellan, former provincial politician * Lanny McDonald, former professional hockey player, chairman of the

Hockey Hall of Fame The Hockey Hall of Fame () is a museum and hall of fame located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Dedicated to the history of ice hockey, it holds exhibits about players, teams, National Hockey League (NHL) records, memorabilia and National Hockey Le ...

, and a Stanley Cup trustee. * Glen Motz,

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

MP for

Medicine Hat—Cardston—Warner Medicine Hat—Cardston—Warner (formerly Medicine Hat) is a federal electoral district (Canada), electoral district in southern Alberta, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1908. Following the Canadian f ...

* Blake Nill, college football coach and former professional football player * Jim Nill, professional hockey executive and former professional hockey player * Milt Pahl, former provincial politician * Dave Ruhl, former professional wrestler * Marjorie Willison, author and radio personality

Sister town

Wake, Okayama 270px, WakeTown Hall is a town located in Wake District, Okayama Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 13,833 in 6,353 households and a population density of 96 persons per km2. The total area of the town is . The town is ...

is the sister town of Hanna.

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1912 establishments in Alberta Special Area No. 2 Towns in Alberta Populated places established in 1912