Raley, Alberta Explained

Official Name:Raley
Settlement Type:Unincorporated community
Pushpin Map:Alberta
Pushpin Map Caption:Location of Raley in Alberta
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Name:Canada
Subdivision Type1:Province
Subdivision Name1:Alberta
Subdivision Type2:Region
Subdivision Name2:Southern Alberta
Subdivision Type3:Census division
Subdivision Name3:2
Subdivision Type4:Municipal district
Leader Title2:Governing body
Leader Name2:Cardston County Council
Leader Title3:MP
Leader Name3:Jim Hillyer
Leader Title4:MLA
Established Title:Founded
Established Date:1909
Established Title2:Incorporated
Population Density Km2:auto
Timezone:MST
Utc Offset:-7
Coordinates:49.2903°N -113.1831°W
Postal Code Type:Postal code span
Postal Code:TOK 2EO
Area Code:+1-403
Blank Name:Highways
Blank Info:Highway 3
Blank1 Name:Waterways
Blank1 Info:Old Man Reservoir
Blank2 Name:Historic Sites

Raley, Alberta is an unincorporated community in Cardston County, Alberta, Canada. The population of Raley was 5 in 1966.[1] The community is located about 4 km north of Highway 3, and about 15 km east of the Town of Cardston. Raley is named after C. Raley, of Lethbridge.[2]

Alberta Pacific Elevator Co. Ltd. elevator

The Alberta Pacific Elevator at Raley was built as a 35,000 bushel elevator and is likely the oldest standing elevator in Alberta[3] constructed shortly after the St. Mary Railway line (succeeded by Canadian Pacific Railway) was constructed in 1900 from Stirling to Cardston and finished in 1902. The post office opened in 1910.[4] The elevator was built in 1905 by the Alberta Pacific Elevator Co. Ltd. A permanent cribbed annex was added to the elevator in 1940. In 1967 the elevator became part of the Federal Line of elevators. Then in 1972 the elevator was taken over by the Alberta Wheat Pool but was closed very shortly afterwards and taken over by the Hutterite colony at Raley. This elevator has high architectural significance as it is an excellent and the only unaltered example of an Alberta Pacific Elevator Co. 35,000 bushel capacity elevator.

The Alberta Pacific elevator at Raley was the first of a number of elevators operating by 1911. It is the only one that has survived, probably because it is now in private hands. By 1911 there were two other elevators at Raley, one was a 30,000 bushel elevator built by A.G. Robertson and the other a 15,000 bushel elevator operated by Sunny Belt Grain Elevator Co. Ltd. This was upgraded to a 30,000 bushel house in 1917.

In 1924 the Raley Hutterite colony took over the A.G. Robertson elevator and in 1940 the Alberta Pacific Grain Co. took over the Sunny belt elevator, by this time owned by the N. Bawlf Grain Co. It was operated in conjunction with the original elevator. Both elevators went to the Alberta Wheat Pool in 1972. There was a fourth elevator at Raley, an Alberta Pool Elevator 40,000 bushel house built in 1929. This elevator disappears from the records by the late 1930s. The Sunny belt and A.g. Robertson elevators were demolished sometime after 1972.

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. https://hermis.alberta.ca/ARHP/Details.aspx?DeptID=2&ObjectID=HS+37738 Raley 1966 population
  2. https://hermis.alberta.ca/ARHP/Details.aspx?DeptID=2&ObjectID=HS+37738 Name Origin - Raley Station
  3. https://hermis.alberta.ca/ARHP/Details.aspx?DeptID=2&ObjectID=HS+69645 Alberta Pacific Elevator Co. Ltd. - Raley
  4. Book: Shaw, Keith. Chief mountain country : a history of Cardston and district. Volume I. 1978. Cardston and District Historical Society. Cardston. 0-919213-89-8. 74.