Vilna is a village 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.
Vilna is located in
Smoky Lake County
Smoky Lake County is a municipal district in north-eastern Alberta, Canada. Located in Census Division No. 12, its municipal office is located in the Town of Smoky Lake.
Geography Communities and localities
The following urban munici ...
, on
Highway 28, northeast of the city of
Edmonton
Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...
. ''Bonnie Lake Provincial Recreation Area'' is located north of the community, on the shores of
Bonnie Lake
Bonnie Lake is a small lake in Alberta, Canada. It is located outside of Vilna, Alberta, north of Highway 28, and is part of the North Saskatchewan River basin.
The lake has a surface of and reaches a maximum depth of , while the average dep ...
.
History
Vilna was founded in 1907, mostly by central European settlers. By 1918, the settlers were calling the larger district Vilna, after the
Lithuania
Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...
n capital city of
Vilnius
Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...
(). The main community started to coalesce in 1919, when the
railroad
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...
reached the area and the first
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 ...
was built.
The "Villette" post office, located two miles east, was relocated to the growing community in 1920, at which time the community was officially named Vilna.
[ That same year, the first schoolhouse was built.][ Vilna was incorporated as a ]village
A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...
on June 13, 1923.[
On February 5, 1967, Vilna experienced a ]meteor air burst
A meteor air burst is a type of air burst in which a meteoroid explodes after entering a planetary body's atmosphere. This fate leads them to be called fireballs or bolides, with the brightest air bursts known as superbolides. Such meteoroids w ...
with a yield estimated at 600 tonnes of TNT (2.5 TJ). Subsequently, two very small meteorite
A meteorite is a rock (geology), rock that originated in outer space and has fallen to the surface of a planet or Natural satellite, moon. When the original object enters the atmosphere, various factors such as friction, pressure, and chemical ...
fragments were found – and which are now stored at University of Alberta, in Edmonton.
Demographics
In the 2021 Census of Population
The 2021 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population with a reference date of May 11, 2021. It follows the 2016 Canadian census, which recorded a population of 35,151,728. The overall response rate was 98%, which is sli ...
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 Village of Vilna had a population of 268 living in 108 of its 119 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 290. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.
Attractions
The town claims to be home to the world's largest metal sculpture mushroom
A mushroom or toadstool is the fleshy, spore-bearing Sporocarp (fungi), fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground on soil or another food source. ''Toadstool'' generally refers to a poisonous mushroom.
The standard for the n ...
.Roadside attractions
- Vilna mushrooms
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 villages in Alberta
A village is an urban municipality status type used in the Canadian province of Alberta. Alberta villages are created when communities with populations of at least 300 people, where a majority of their buildings are on parcels of land smaller t ...
References
External links
*
{{Subdivisions of Alberta, villages=yes
1923 establishments in Alberta
Villages in Alberta