Homestead, Alberta

{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2023}}

{{Use Canadian English|date=January 2023}}

Homestead is a locality in northern Alberta, Canada within the County of Grande Prairie No. 1. It is approximately {{convert|48|km|mi|abbr=on}} northwest of Grande Prairie and wa, formed around the Homestead post office that was established November 1, 1930.{{Cite book|title = Place Names of Alberta- Volume 4|last = Aubrey|first = Merrily|publisher = University of Calgary Press|year = 1996|isbn = 1-895176-59-X|location = Calgary, Alberta|pages = 99}} The post office was in the home of Christian & Caroline Nordhagen, who also operated a small store.{{Cite web|url = http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/postal-heritage-philately/post-offices-postmasters/Pages/item.aspx?IdNumber=10525&|title = Post Offices and Postmasters|date = |website = Postage Heritage and Philately|publisher = Library and Archives Canada|last = |first = }}

The land around Homestead ad been opened for homesteading (hence the name) in 1929. A forest fire had ravaged the area, leaving a fine white ash over the land, so when the school district was established in 1930, it was named Ashdown.{{Cite book|title = A Grande Education: One Hundred Schools in the County of Grande Prairie, 1910-1960|last = Nutting|first = Mary|publisher = South Peace Regional Archives|year = 2010|isbn = 978-0-9735665-0-5|location = Grande Prairie|pages = 7–8}} A log school was built on the NW quarter of section 20, township 75, range 9, west of the 6th meridian. This was the community centre for club meetings, concerts, dances and church services until 1949, when the Northern Lights Hall was built.{{Cite book|title = Pioneer Roundup Volume 2|last = |first = |publisher = Pioneer History Society of Hythe and Area|year = 1972|isbn = 0-919212-22-0|location = South Peace Regional Archives|pages = 544–553}}

The school closed in 1956 and the post office in 1962. The vacant school was used as a United Church until it was sold in 1959, but in 2006, the Ashdown Historic Society was formed to preserve the site and the building.