Fur Trade Post to Urban Community
Fort Edmonton and the land surrounding it were officially under the control of the Hudson's Bay Co. by virtue of its 1670 royal charter from England. The end of Hudson's Bay Co. rule came with the transfer of Rupert's land to the new government of Canada in 1870.
After 1870 the Hudson's Bay Co. had a 3,000-acre Reserve left in the Edmonton area. The precise location of the Hudson's Bay Co. Reserve's boundaries was not known until 1876 when it was officially surveyed by the HBC.
The Hudson's Bay Co. Reserve was bounded on the south by the North Saskatchewan River, on the west by 121 Street, and on the east by what is now 101 Street. It extended as far north as 122 Avenue.
This article is extracted from John Gilpin, Responsible Enterprise: A History of Edmonton Real Estate & the Edmonton Real Estate Board. (Edmonton: Edmonton Real Estate Board, 1997). The Heritage Community Foundation and the Alberta Real Estate Foundation would like to thank John Gilpin and the REALTORS® Association of Edmonton for permission to reproduce this material.