Timeline of Edmonton history explained

The timeline of Edmonton history is a chronology of significant events in the history of Edmonton, Alberta.

Pre-European period

• Indigenous peoples roamed Alberta for thousands of years, or even tens of thousands of years. The rim of the river valley and its ravines and hilltops in Edmonton are known to have been well-used as campgrounds and look-out points during this time. Rabbit Hill, today's Mary Lobay Park, Mount Pleasant Cemetery and Huntington Heights (near Whitemud Drive west of Calgary Trail) are known to be sites of human activity for millennia.

18th century

• 1754 – Anthony Henday, an explorer working for the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), may have been the first European to enter the Edmonton area.^[1]
• 1795 – Fort Edmonton was established on the north bank of the river near today's Fort Saskatchewan, as a major trading post for the Hudson's Bay Company.^[2]

19th century

• 1802 - Fort Edmonton (Hudson's Bay Company) moved to Rossdale.
• 1810 - Fort Edmonton (Hudson's Bay Company) moved to near Smoky Lake.
• 1812 – Fort Edmonton (Hudson's Bay Company) moved to Rossdale, never again to move out of today's Edmonton. This was start of Edmonton's recorded permanent occupancy.^[3]
• 1821 the North West Company and the Hudson's Bay Company merged, and fur-trade activities at Edmonton became concentrated in Fort Edmonton.
• 1830 – Fort Edmonton moved up the hill, to near today's legislative building.
• 1870 – Fort Edmonton and environs becomes part of Canada and of the North-West Territories
• 1871 – The first prominent buildings outside the walls of Fort Edmonton, a Methodist church mission building and manse, built by George McDougall and his family. They added mix to the existing campsites and log cabins of gold prospectors, frontier farmers and hunters, Indigenous, European and Métis, who lived in the bush where City of Edmonton sits today.
• 1874 - North-West Mounted Police arrive. Second Patrol, a spin-off of the main March West, arrived in exhausted dribs and drabs Oct. 29-Nov. 2
• 1876 – Treaty 6 is signed by representatives of the Queen and local Native leaders. Title to the Fort Edmonton region is ceded to the Crown, excepting promised Indian reserves, Enoch and Papaschase. (The Papaschase reserve, on the site of Mill Woods, was never established.)^[4]
• 1879 – Edmonton's first local exhibition.
• 1880 – Edmonton Bulletin published. Frank Oliver, publisher
• 1882 – Dominion Land Survey done in Edmonton area. incorporated existing riverlots along river and helped firm up local land ownership.
• 1883 - Edmonton elected its first representative to the NWT Territorial Council. Frank Oliver was elected.
• 1886 – Edmonton's coldest temperature is recorded as -49.4C January 19.^[5]
• 1891 – Community of South Edmonton (Strathcona) established south of the river upon completion of construction of the Calgary and Edmonton Railway. (Became a town in 1899.)^[6]
• 1892
  • Second McDougall Church was built at site of first church. (Now at Fort Edmonton Park)
  • Edmonton incorporated as a town with a population of 700. Covered what is now downtown, north of the river.^[7]
• 1896 - Edmonton pioneer, newspaperman and NWT Council member Frank Oliver elected as MP for Alberta.^[8]
• 1897 – Edmonton was a starting point for people making the trek overland to the Klondike Gold Rush. Nearby South Edmonton (Strathcona) was the northernmost railway point on the western Prairies. (But Edmonton was still about 3000 kilometres from the goldfields.)
• 1899 - South Edmonton at the end of steel south of the river became Town of Strathcona (Strathcona, Alberta).^[9]

20th century

• 1900 – Low Level Bridge completed.
• 1903
  • Edmonton Journal founded.
  • Methodist Church Board founds Alberta College
  • Edmonton, Yukon and Pacific Railway crossed Low Level Bridge to connect Edmonton by rail to Strathcona and thence to the outside world.
• 1904
  • Incorporated as a city in 1904 with a population of 8,350.^[7]
  • Elected Liberal MP Frank Oliver in 1904 federal election. (Strathcona on the southside elected Liberal MP Peter Talbot.)
• 1905
  • Edmonton became the capital of Alberta, as Alberta became a province in Confederation. First premier was Strathcona's MLA, Alexander Cameron Rutherford.
  • Canadian Northern Railway (CNoR) arrived in Edmonton, accelerating growth. This was first transcontinental line to enter Edmonton.
• 1907-13 – real estate and construction boom. With amalgamation of Cities of Strathcona and Edmonton, the population of Edmonton grew to 72,500.^[7]
• 1907 – Six miners die in a fire at the Strathcona Coal Company, near south end of today's High Level Bridge, the worst industrial accident Edmonton has suffered
• 1908
  • Edmonton Hockey Club makes the city's first appearance at the Stanley Cup finals.
  • Strathcona Canadian Pacific Railway Station completed, along the Calgary & Edmonton Railway line.
  • University of Alberta established in Strathcona and began instruction.
• 1909
  • Grand Trunk Pacific Railway entered Edmonton.^[10]
  • Arlington Apartments completed. (destroyed by fire in 2005)^[11]
• 1910 – Third McDougall Church completed, dedicated in the honour of George McDougall.
• 1911 – Connaught Armoury built in Strathcona.
• 1912
  • Edmonton amalgamated with the city of Strathcona, a city since 1907, south of the North Saskatchewan River; as a result, the city extended south of the river.
  • First Presbyterian Church completed.
• 1913
  • Alberta Legislature Building completed.
  • High Level Bridge opened. It carried a CPR rail-line and streetcar lines as well as a two-lane road for private vehicles (both horse-drawn and gas-fueled) and sidewalks for pedestrians.
  • Robertson-Wesley United Church completed.
  • Edmonton economy collapses. With completiogn of Legislative Building and High Level Bridge, unemployment became problem.. Land in the Hudson's Bay Co reserve was put on the market and sold, with the money raised by the sales going to HBC headquarters out of the province. British investment dried up as Europe invested in military preparation for the coming war. This all caused real estate prices to drop. With the start of World War I, the city's population declined, going from 72,000 in 1914 to under 54,000 in only two years, people leaving to eke out existence on farms, or off to war, or to other centres.^[7]

• 1914
  • Vote held on street naming system (following amalgamation of Strathcona and Edmonton, each with their own systems) Numerical numbering (centred on Jasper Avenue and 101 Street) got 2099 votes; "Edmonscona" scheme (a mixed number-name system) got 1471 votes.^[12]
• 1915
  • Fort Edmonton (#5) is dismantled. (it would be recreated in 1974.)
  • Hotel Macdonald opens. It was built by the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway, soon to be bankrupt and rolled into the Canadian National line.
  • North Saskatchewan River flood of 1915 leaves 2000 homeless.
• 1917 – Edmonton annexes village of West Edmonton (Calder).
• 1918–1919 – Spanish Flu kills 614 Edmontonians.
• 1920 – Edmonton Symphony Orchestra holds its first performance.
• 1922
  • CJCA begins broadcasting as city's first radio station.
  • Edmonton Grads win the Canadian Basketball Championship. The team wins this competition each year from 1922 to 1940.
  • - Edmonton Eskimos football team, owned by local Elks society, took the name Edmonton Elks in October 1922. At first known as the Edmonton Rugby Foot-ball Club, the team had taken the name Eskimos. By 1922 that name was thought to be inappropriate to the team as it "did not connote any qualities desired in football players" and "it begot a false notion of the geographical position of Edmonton." The team disbanded during WWII. (Today's Edmonton Elks have taken the team's old name).^{[13] [14] [15]}
• 1923
  • Edmonton Grads win the World Basketball Championships.
  • 1923 Edmonton used single transferable voting for the first time in its municipal elections. The city switched back to block voting in 1928.^[16]
• 1924 – The Edmonton Art Gallery opened for the first time.
• 1926 – Edmonton elected its first "third-party" MLAs - UFA's John Lymburn and Labour's Lionel Gibbs. Use of proportional representation likely helped make this possible.
• 1929 – Blatchford Field (now Edmonton City Centre (Blatchford Field) Airport) commenced operation.^[17]
• 1930
  • Canadian Derby established.
  • The Great Depression hit Edmonton hard. Unemployment soared.
• 1935 – Edmonton elected its first Social Credit MLAs.
• 1937 – Edmonton's hottest temperature (until 1998) is recorded as 37.2 °C on June 29.
• 1938
  • Al-Rashid Mosque completed.
  • Clarke Stadium completed.
• 1947 – The first major oil discovery in Alberta was made near the town of Leduc, south of Edmonton.^[18]
• late 1940s and 1950s – The subsequent oil boom gave Edmonton new status as the "Oil Capital of Canada", and during the 1950s, the city increased in population from 149,000 to 269,000.^[7] After a relatively calm but still prosperous period in the 1960s, the city's growth took on renewed vigour concomitant with high world oil prices, triggered by the 1973 oil crisis and the 1979 Iranian Revolution. The oil boom of the 1970s and 1980s ended abruptly with the sharp decline in oil prices on the international market and the introduction of the National Energy Program in 1981; that same year, the population had reached 521,000.^[7]
• 1942 – A record-breaking snowfall of 39.9 centimetres hits Edmonton on November 15.
• 1947 – St. Josaphat Cathedral completed.
• 1947–1965 – Suburban boom began.
• 1948 – Edmonton Flyers wins the Allan Cup.
• 1950 – Edmonton Mercurys win the Ice Hockey World Championships
• 1951 – Edmonton Bulletin ceases production.
• 1952
  • Clover Bar Bridge completed.
  • Edmonton Mercurys win the Olympic Gold medal.
• 1953 – Nationwide epidemic, 16 Edmontonians died from poliomyelitis.
• 1954 – Edmonton Eskimos win their first Grey Cup.
• 1955
  • Groat Bridge completed.
  • Westmount Centre opened as the city's first shopping mall.
• 1957 – Jubilee Auditorium opened.
• 1959
  • Valley Zoo opened.
  • With the end of proportional representation (STV) in 1956, First-past-the-post voting is used to elect Edmonton MLAs. Social Credit scores clean sweep of city seats.
• 1960 – Edmonton International Airport opened
• 1961 – Beverly, Alberta amalgamated with the City of Edmonton.
• 1962
  • Edmonton's local exhibition had been renamed to Klondike Days.
  • Northern Alberta Institute of Technology established.
• 1963
  • Edmonton Oil Kings win their first Memorial Cup.
  • Edmonton Opera established.
• 1964 – Jasper Place amalgamated with Edmonton.
• 1965
  • Citadel Theatre opened.
  • Edmonton aircraft bombing.
• 1966 – CN Tower was completed, the tallest building in Edmonton at the time, and city's first skyscraper.
• 1967 – Provincial Museum and Archives of Alberta opened.
• 1969 – Edmonton becomes the first Canadian city to join the North American Emergency Telephone 911 plan.
• 1970s – Major construction boom occurred.
• 1971
  • Grant MacEwan Community College established.
  • James MacDonald Bridge opened.
  • AGT Tower was completed and the tallest building in Edmonton at the time.
  • The Mill Woods Development Concept was approved. The area was planned to house approximately 120,000 people, its population in 2023.
• 1972
  • Alberta Oilers founded.
  • Ukrainian Canadian Archives & Museum Of Alberta opened.
• 1974
  • Fort Edmonton Park established.
  • Northlands Coliseum opened.
• 1976
  • Heritage Days Festival begins at Mayfair Park.
  • Muttart Conservatory opened.
• 1978
  • 1978 Commonwealth Games.
  • Edmonton LRT started.
  • Edmonton Sun founded.
  • Commonwealth Stadium opened.
  • Kinsmen Centre opened.
• 1979 – Edmonton Oilers join the National Hockey League.
• 1980s – Although the National Energy Program was later scrapped by the federal government, the collapse of world oil prices in 1986 and massive government cutbacks kept the city from making a full economic recovery until the late 1990s.^[19]
• 1980
  • Edmonton Folk Music Festival launched.
  • The Great Divide waterfall flows from the High Level Bridge for the first time.
• 1981
  • Heritage Mall opened
  • West Edmonton Mall opened.
• 1982
  • Edmonton Fringe Theatre Festival is held for the first time.
  • A large explosion at the CIL plant in Edmonton could be felt up to away.
• 1983
  • 1983 Summer Universiade.
  • Hotel Macdonald closes after falling into despair.
  • Manulife Place was completed and was the tallest building in Edmonton until it was surpassed in 2017 by the Stantec tower.
  • Edmonton Convention Centre opened.
  • Phase II of West Edmonton Mall opened.
    • Fantasyland opened
• 1984
  • Edmonton hosts the Grey Cup for the first time.
  • Edmonton Oilers win their first Stanley Cup
  • Edmonton Trappers win their first Pacific Coast League championship.
  • Edmonton Space Science Centre opened.
  • Edmonton Expo Centre opened.
• 1985
  • Edmonton International Street Performer's Festival is held for the first time.
  • Phase III of West Edmonton Mall opened.
• 1986
  • Edmonton International Film Festival is held for the first time.
  • North Saskatchewan River rises to 11.5 metres, the worst flood since 1915.
  • Three people died and one was injured when the Mindbender roller coaster at West Edmonton Mall's Fantasyland derailed.
  • The Works Art & Design Festival launched.
  • World Waterpark opened.

• 1987 – Edmonton tornado kills 27 and causes more than $300M damage.
• 1991 – Hotel Macdonald reopened after significant restoration and a change in ownership.
• 1992 – The current Edmonton City Hall completed.
• 1995
  • After 91 years of service, Telus acquired Edmonton Telephones Corporation (ED TEL), the city's publicly owned telephone company.
  • Edmonton Queen christened.
  • Fantasyland changed its name to "Galaxyland", after a lawsuit filed by the Walt Disney Company.
• 1996 – 1996 World Figure Skating Championships.
• 1997 – Winspear Centre opened.
• 1998 – Edmonton's hottest temperature is recorded at 38.3C, on August 5.^[20]
• 1999 – Phase IV of West Edmonton Mall opened.

21st century

• 2000 - Heritage Mall closed.
• 2001 – 2001 World Championships in Athletics.
• 2003 – 2003 Heritage Classic.
• 2004 – Large hailstorm causing widespread damage throughout the city most notably causing the evacuation of West Edmonton Mall.^[21]
• 2005
  • Edmonton hosts its first Grand Prix
  • Edmonton celebrates 100 years of being the capital of Alberta.
• 2006 – 2006 Women's Rugby World Cup.
• 2007 – 2007 Ford World Men's Curling Championship.
  • Largest residential fire in Edmonton's history burns down a 149 unit condominium complex, which was under construction, along with 18 duplexes. Causing $20 million in damages.^[22]
• 2008 – Edmonton region population surpasses one million becoming the most northern city in North America with a population over one million.
• 2009 – Edmonton submitted a bid for Expo 2017.
• 2010 – The Art Gallery of Alberta is reopened in its new building.
  • Edmonton for first time used single-seat wards and First-past-the-post voting to elect its city councillors.https://www.edmonton.ca/city_government/municipal_elections/past-results
  • 2011
  • The Epcor Tower is completed, becoming Edmonton's tallest skyscraper.
  • The Edmonton Clinic opened.
  • The city's homicide rate swells; 47 murders by the year.^{[23] [24]}
• 2013 – The inaugural Tour of Alberta launches from Edmonton^[25]
• 2014 – 53-year-old Phu Lam murders his ex-wife and six relatives on December 29, the worst mass murder in Edmonton's history.^[26]
• 2016
  • Construction was completed on August 16, 2016 for the Royal Alberta Museum new location in Downtown Edmonton.^[27]
  • Rogers Place arena in Downtown opened in September.^[28]
  • Anthony Henday Drive is officially completed with the opening of its northeast section, including two new bridges over the river, on October 1.^[29] It is the furthest north ring road in North America.
• 2017
  • 2017 Edmonton attack
  • Completion of the new Walterdale Bridge as a replacement for the old bridge.^[30]
• 2018
  • Completion of the Stantec Tower^[31] becoming the tallest in building in Canada outside of Toronto.^{[31] [32] [33]}
  • Construction on the JW Marriott Hotel completed, becoming the second tallest building in Edmonton.^[34]
  • Opening of a new building for the Royal Alberta Museum to the public.^[27]
• 2020
  • Edmonton co-hosts the 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs behind closed doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[35]
• 2023
  • 2023 Heritage Classic

See also

• History of Edmonton
• List of tallest buildings in Edmonton

Notes and References

1. Book: MacGregor, James. Edmonton: A History. Hurtig, 1975 Original from the University of Michigan Digitized 5 Jan 2007. 1975. 17. 0-88830-100-6.
2. Web site: Historical . Real Estate Marketing services . 2009-02-27 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20081025132516/http://www.edmontonalberta.net/history.html . October 25, 2008 .
3. Edmonton House Journal 1806-1821, Nov. 6, 1812
4. https://www.millwoodshistory.org/papaschase-reserve.html
5. Web site: Climate Data Almanac for January 19. Environment Canada. 16 October 2012. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20120729142149/http://climate.weatheroffice.gc.ca/climateData/almanac_e.html?timeframe=4&Prov=XX&StationID=1863&Year=2007&Month=1&Day=19. 29 July 2012.
6. Book: Gilpin, John Frederick . The City of Strathcona, 1891–1912 . 1978 . 1 2 . December 31, 2013.
7. Web site: August 2008. City of Edmonton Population, Historical. City of Edmonton. 2016-12-17.
8. Mardon and Mardon, Alberta Election Results
9. Book: Herzog, Lawrence (October 24, 2002). "Another Look at Strathconas Pioneer Merchants." It's Our Heritage Vol. 20 No. 43. Published online by Real Estate Weekly.
10. [Grand Trunk Pacific Railway|<nowiki/>]
11. [Arlington Apartments (Edmonton)|"Crews tear down historic Arlington Apartments". ]
12. Edmonton Bulletin, April 8, 1914, p. 5
13. Edmonton Bulletin, June 21, 1921
14. Edmonton Bulletin, October 17, 1922, p. 7
15. Gateway, Nov. 21, 1922
16. Rek, Municipal Elections in Edmonton
17. Web site: Historical. Edmonton Airports. 2009-02-27. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20090505185035/http://corporate.flyeia.com/general_aviation/edmonton_city_centre/history. 2009-05-05.
18. Web site: Historical . Government of Canada . 2009-02-27 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20090216091945/http://canadianeconomy.gc.ca/english/economy/1947Leduc_Oil_Discovery.html . 2009-02-16.
19. Web site: Chapter 7. Riding the Roller Coaster, 1973–2004. https://archive.today/20070625084328/http://www.epl.ca/edmontonacitycalledhome/EPLEdmontonCityCalledStoryChapter.cfm?id=160. dead. 2007-06-25. Edmonton Public Library. 2009-02-27.
20. Book: Martha, Walls. Edmonton Book of Everything. Maclntyre Purcell Publishing Inc.. 2007. 62, 64. 978-0-9738063-4-2.
21. Web site: Edmonton Disaster Timetable. City of Edmonton. 5 January 2010.
22. News: Mertz. Emily. Community marks five years since MacEwan fire. 17 October 2012. Global Edmonton. 20 July 2012.
23. News: The Edmonton Journal's coverage of local homicides in 2011.. 26 March 2016. Postmedia Network Inc.. Edmonton Journal. 2012.
24. Web site: Edmonton homicide rate may swell police numbers. CBC News. 4 January 2012. 3 January 2012.
25. Web site: Rohan Dennis, 23, wins Tour of Alberta. CBC. 8 September 2013. 8 September 2013.
26. http://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/us/nine-dead-in-edmonton-canada-shooting-incidents-1.2051535 Nine dead in Edmonton shooting
27. Web site: Milestones. Royal Alberta Museum. Government of Alberta. 5 September 2016.
28. Web site: Final Piece of Funding for Downtown Arena Approved. City of Edmonton. May 15, 2013. August 25, 2013. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20160304072454/http://www.edmonton.ca/city_government/news/2013/final-piece-of-funding-for-downtown-arena-approved.aspx. March 4, 2016.
29. News: Kent. Fletcher. Edmonton drivers relieved as northeast Anthony Henday construction nears completion. 5 September 2016. Global News Edmonton. Corus Entertainment Inc.. 10 August 2016.
30. https://globalnews.ca/news/3776582/edmonton-pedestrians-can-now-use-new-walterdale-bridge/ Edmonton pedestrians can now use new Walterdale Bridge
31. News: Stantec Tower in Edmonton set to be Canada's tallest outside Toronto . Kent . Gordon . September 15, 2015 . Edmonton Journal . March 25, 2016.
32. News: Canada's tallest building outside Toronto under construction in Edmonton . Tucker . Erika . September 19, 2015 . Global News . March 25, 2016.
33. News: 62-storey tower to be built in downtown Edmonton. August 26, 2014 . CBC News . March 25, 2016.
34. News: Mah. Bill. Edmonton Ice District hotel upgraded to JW Marriott. 26 March 2016. Post Media. Edmonton Journal. January 14, 2016. Video/Text.
35. https://www.nhl.com/news/edmonton-toronto-chosen-as-hub-cities-for-return-to-play-plan/c-317371532 Edmonton, Toronto chosen as hub cities for NHL Return to Play Plan