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New Communities

  • Cardston - Learn about the history of some of the first Mormon settlers in Alberta who settled in what is now Cardston.
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  • Amber Valley and Black Settlement - Hear about the first black settlement in Alberta and Jefferson Davis Edwards, one of its most important members. Then discover how Amber Valley got its name.
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  • Community Halls - Learn about Alberta's first rural Community Halls, which had their heyday between 1914 and 1945.
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  • Kepler Creek - Find out about the adventurous man that gave Kepler Creek its name.
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  • Parlby Lake - Hear about the brothers who gave Parlby Lake its name.
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  • Joe Weiss: Mountaineer - Joe Weiss found his niche in Jasper National Park, as a trapper, mountaineer, photographer, and, eventually, namesake of Mount Weiss.
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  • Towns: Grande Prairie - Grande Prairie City was marketed heavily for settlement in the early part of the twentieth century, but its advantages as a community were always clear.
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  • Peace River - The northern Peace River Crossing remained a unique settlement for many reasons, even after the railway arrived in 1916.
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  • Grouard - Grouard had valuable resources and was once called "the Edmonton of the north." So why has Grouard ceased to exist as an incorporated town?
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  • Scandinavian, Place Names: Armena and Bardo - How did the Alberta towns Armena and Bardo get their names? Hear the story of two of the first Scandinavian settlements in the province.
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  • Scandinavian Names, Part Two: Dalum and Nuorison Creek - Dalum got its name thanks to a group of Danish settlers who settled near present-day Drumheller. Settlers from Finland named Nuorison Creek. Hear more about these first Scandinavian settlers.
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  • Scandinavian Place Names, Part Three: Oyen and Standard - The south-central part of Alberta has been a favourite of Scandinavian settlers since the early part of the twentieth century. Listen, and learn about the Norwegian Andrew family, and the towns of Oyen and Standard.
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  • Scandinavian Place Names: Thorsby and Tindastoll Creek - Settlers from Sweden and Iceland named the towns of Thorsby and Tindastoll in honour of their Scandinavian heritage. Listen to find out more about these towns and their settlers.
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  • Scandinavian Place Names: Valhalla - Valhalla is the mythical home of Viking gods, but it was also the Alberta home of Scandinavian settlers led by Norwegian pastor H.N. Ronning.
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  • Markerville Creamery - The Markerville Creamery was an initiative set up by Mr. C.P. Marker in 1902. Hear Dorothy Field explain the history of this historic site.
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  • Ethnic Settlement in Alberta: Francophones - Oblates from France attempted to convert native and Métis peoples to the Catholic faith beginning in the mid-1800s. Father Lacombe moved his mission to St. Albert, which became a large enclave of francophone culture.
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  • Ethnic Settlement in Alberta: Francophones - In the late nineteenth century, francophone culture flourished in St. Albert and Edmonton. But when the railway began to supply the community of south Edmonton with greater commercial success, the surrounding francophone communities suffered.
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  • Ethnic Settlement in Alberta Part 2: Francophones - In the late nineteenth century, francophone culture flourished in St. Albert and Edmonton. But when the railway began to supply the community of south Edmonton with greater commercial success, the surrounding francophone communities suffered.
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  • Ethnic Place Names: French, Part One: Demicharge and Cassette Rapids on the Slave River - Listen to hear of the voyageurs, French fur traders and some of the first Europeans to enter western Canada. The rapids along the Slave River provided one of the most difficult challenges to these brave men.
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  • Ethnic Place Names Part Two, French: Pierre au Calumet, La Crete, Carcajou - Ever wonder how the French communities of Calumet, La Crete, and Carcajou got their names? Listen, and find out!
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  • French Oblate Names: Part One - The Petitot River was named after the famous Oblate priest, artist, and scholar, Father Petitot, who came to Alberta as a missionary in 1862. Listen to learn more about this amazing man.
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  • French Oblate Names, Part Two: Father Vegreville - Father Vegreville was an Oblate priest and an expert linguist of native languages. The original francophone community to the east of Edmonton named their town in his honour in 1906, and Vegreville later became the center of Ukrainian settlement.
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  • German Place Names: Those that Changed After WWI - Many German towns changed their names to satisfy anti-German sentiment during the first World War. Hear more about the origin of place names in Alberta.
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  • German Place Names, Part Two: Those That Stayed the Same - Listen to learn about the history behind communities like Hussar and Josephburg, which kept their German names despite hostility created by the First World War.
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  • Irish Place Names: Ardenode - Hear about the origin of Ardenode, named by the twin sons of Irish Major George Davis in 1915.
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  • Irish Place Names: Bantry - Bantry, Alberta was named after Bantry Bay in Ireland, but were the two places at all similar? Listen, and find out!
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  • Irish Place Names: Connemara - Connemara is an Irish word meaning "seaside." Discover how Connemara, Alberta got it's name, and what it's called today!
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  • Irish Place Names: St. Brides - A group of Irish immigrants moved near the northern frontier, and called their new settlement St. Brides. Listen to learn about the fascinating heritage of this Irish saint.
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  • Greek and Latin Place Names: Part One - Many Alberta ranges were named by mountaineers with a background in Greek and Roman mythology. Listen to learn how many peaks, like Mt. Andromeda, were named.
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  • Greek and Latin Place Names: Part Two - Greek and Roman names were given not only to mountains, but to other geological features. Listen to learn more about classical naming in Alberta.
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  • Greek and Roman Places Names: Part Three - Some surveyors used the ancient Greek alphabet when naming Alberta lakes. Hear more about how these lakes were named, and about Ricinus, a locality near Rocky Mountain House.
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New Homes

  • Ready Cut Houses - An economical way of getting started in the west was to buy a ready-cut house, from the catalogue!
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  • Verandahs and Their Demise - Many of the first pioneer homes had verandas, which served as a space for community. Hear about verandas and their eventual disappearance in Alberta.
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  • Sheck Dugout Near Didsbury - A few of the new settlers in Alberta built subterranean homes! Learn more about the Sheck Dugout, near Didsbury.
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  • Sod Houses - Sod houses were an attractive alternative in the grasslands of Alberta. But how -- and how often -- were sod houses actually built?
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  • Magrath Mansion - Listen to the history of the Magrath Mansion, a grand and opulent home just east of Edmonton.
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  • Cobblestone Manor - Henry Haut spent 16 years restoring a log house in Cardston, Alberta, with the cobblestones that surrounded his home.
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  • The Rutherfords: How They Met - Hear about the arrival of the Rutherfords in the 1890s, the most prominent couple in Strathcona at the time.
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  • The Rutherfords - When Alexander Cameron Rutherford first came to Strathcona as a young lawyer, he was not at all interested in entering politics. Learn how Rutherford became Alberta's first premier, just three years later!
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  • Homesteading: Getting Started on the Land - What were the immediate prospects for the new settlers? You'll discover this was no time to relax!
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  • Homesteading, Part Six: Breaking the Land - Before the settlers could build their homes, they needed to clear and break the land. Listen to historian Pat Meyers describe the implements and the hard work of these pioneers.
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  • Homesteading: Seeding - Learn how homesteaders spent their first spring and summer in the fields. Hear about their first season of seeding new land.
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  • Stephansson House: Part One - Stephan Guthmundarson Stephansson was a famous Icelandic poet before he came to Markerville, Alberta. Hear about Stephansson and his little farmhouse near Red Deer.
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  • Stephansson House: Part Two - The Stephansson farmhouse, at Markerville, Alberta, grew with the Stephansson family, room by room. Stephansson House is now a historic site.
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  • Stephansson House: Part Three - Listen to the history of Stephansson House's unique architectural details, from its brilliant colours to its eight lightning rods!
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  • Stephansson House: Part Four - Stephan G. Stephansson has been called the Shakespeare of Iceland. Hear some of Stephansson's poems, and learn about the man himself.
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Old and New Traditions

  • Hanukkah in Alberta - Stephan G. Stephansson has been called the Shakespeare of Iceland. Hear some of Stephansson's poems, and learn about the man himself.
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  • Buddhist Christmas Tree - Japanese people in Alberta have their own rituals and celebrations at the end of December. Listen, and be enlightened!
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  • Ukrainian Christmas in the 1920s - Ukrainian settlers in Alberta celebrated Christmas in unique ways. Hear about the agrarian traditions that influence Ukrainian Christmas rituals. Read | Listen
  • The Meal at Ukrainian Christmas - The traditional Ukrainian Christmas meal consists of twelve dishes, all without meat. Listen to David Goa explain the other Christmas traditions that Ukrainian settlers brought with them to Alberta.
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  • Ukrainian Carolling - Caroling was one of the most important traditions of the Ukrainian Christmas season. Hear more about this festive ritual!
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  • Epiphany: Blessing the Water - The Epiphany was the final Ukrainian holiday of the Christmas season. Listen, and learn about the tradition of blessing water on this day.
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  • Cottage Schools - Cottage schools were constructed to provide a temporary space for schooling, but the cottage school in North Red Deer continued to be used until the 1960s.
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  • Dominion Day Celebrations - Many of the larger Alberta towns were celebrating Dominion Day by the 1880s. Learn about these festivities throughout the years until 1927.
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  • Cemetery Day in Raymond - Cemetery Day is celebrated in a certain Alberta town each summer. Hear about the cultural history of this day, and which town continues to celebrate it!
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  • Victoria Day - Victoria Day was a way of celebrating Canada's connection to Britain and its monarch, Queen Victoria. Listen to learn more about Canadian patriotism years ago.
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            For more on the history of settlement in Alberta, visit Peel’s Prairie Provinces.