Lake Louise 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 ...

within

Banff National Park Banff National Park is Canada, Canada's first National Parks of Canada, national park, established in 1885 as Rocky Mountains Park. Located in Alberta's Rockies, Alberta's Rocky Mountains, west of Calgary, Banff encompasses of mountainous ter ...

in Alberta, Canada. Named after

Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll (Louisa Caroline Alberta; 18 March 1848 – 3 December 1939) was the sixth child and fourth daughter of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Prince Albert. In her public life, she was a s ...

, it lies in Alberta's Rockies on the

Bow River The headwaters of the Bow River in Alberta, Canada, start at the Bow Glacier and Bow Lake (Alberta), Bow Lake in Banff National Park in the Canadian Rockies, Canadian Rocky Mountains. The glacial stream that feeds Bow Lake (Alberta), Bow Lake ...

, northeast of the lake that shares its name. Initially settled in 1884 as an outpost for 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 ...

, Lake Louise sits at an elevation of , making it Canada's highest community.

History

Prior to the arrival of

Europeans Europeans are the focus of European ethnology, the field of anthropology related to the various ethnic groups that reside in the states of Europe. Groups may be defined by common ancestry, language, faith, historical continuity, etc. There are ...

, local indigenous peoples were the only inhabitants of the foothills of 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 ...

—including what is today Lake Louise—where they hunted the once-widespread

bison A bison (: bison) is a large bovine in the genus ''Bison'' (from Greek, meaning 'wild ox') within the tribe Bovini. Two extant taxon, extant and numerous extinction, extinct species are recognised. Of the two surviving species, the American ...

, as well as elk,

moose The moose (: 'moose'; used in North America) or elk (: 'elk' or 'elks'; used in Eurasia) (''Alces alces'') is the world's tallest, largest and heaviest extant species of deer and the only species in the genus ''Alces''. It is also the tal ...

and other big and small game animals, in addition to fishing the rich waterways and foraging off of the many species of edible and medicinal plants in the region. In the

language Language is a structured system of communication that consists of grammar and vocabulary. It is the primary means by which humans convey meaning, both in spoken and signed language, signed forms, and may also be conveyed through writing syste ...

of the

Nakoda people The Nakoda (also known as Stoney, , or Stoney Nakoda) are an Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous people in Western Canada and the United States. Their territory used to be large parts of what is now Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Monta ...

, Lake Louise is called , meaning "lake of the little fishes". During the 1870s, construction of the

(CPR) began, with the route going through Bow Valley. A Nakoda guide took CPR workman Tom Wilson to the site in 1882, and Wilson named it 'Emerald Lake'. The hamlet was later called 'Holt City', and then 'Laggan', before being renamed Lake Louise. A ca. 1890 CPR station was replaced in 1910, but continued to be used by the railway company for other purposes until it was donated to Heritage Park Historical Village,

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 ...

, in 1976. The depot was moved to the park, where it was restored in the style of the era when the village was called Laggan. The 1910 station was declared a heritage railway station by the federal government in 1991, having been well-preserved and operating today as a restaurant. Lake Louise was added to Rocky Mountains Park in 1892, and has subsequently become an international tourist destination, made more accessible by its location near the

Trans-Canada Highway The Trans-Canada Highway (Canadian French, French: ; abbreviated as the TCH or T-Can) is a transcontinental federal–provincial highway system that travels through all ten provinces of Canada, from the Pacific Ocean on the west coast to the A ...

Geography

The hamlet is in Division No. 15, one of 19 census divisions of Alberta and the federal riding of Banff—Airdrie. It is beside the

( Highway 1), west of Calgary.

Climate

Lake Louise experiences a

subarctic climate The subarctic climate (also called subpolar climate, or boreal climate) is a continental climate with long, cold (often very cold) winters, and short, warm to cool summers. It is found on large landmasses, often away from the moderating effects of ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

''Dfc''). Annual snowfall averages and although winter temperatures can fall below in January and February the averages are and respectively. Summers consist of frosty mornings and crisp, cool days. Snow can occur in any month of the year. Since lower elevations on said latitude have

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers, and cold ...

s instead, it may also be described as a subalpine climate. Because of its high diurnal air temperature variation and high altitude, the frost-free period averages only 14 days.

Demographics

Lake Louise recorded a population of 691 in the 2011 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 ...

. Residents often change year to year, with workers in the service and tourism industries moving to the area for work.

Government

Lake Louise is administered by Improvement District No. 9.Improvement District No. 9 (Banff)
- Alberta Municipal Affairs

Infrastructure

The Trans-Canada Highway ( Highway 1) runs adjacent to the community while Highway 1A begins at the entrance to the community. The southern terminus of the Icefields Parkway ( Highway 93) is just north of the community.

References

External links

* {{Canadian Rockies Banff National Park Hamlets in Alberta