Timeline of Edmonton history

{{Short description|Chronology of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada}}

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.{{citation needed|date=February 2021}} As well, the "Old North Trail" of the Blackfoot goes through present-day Edmonton, as it goes from Mexico to the Barren Lands up north. (Part of it survives is preserved as the Great Western Trail through the U.S.) At about Edmonton the Trail branched, with one branch going through present-day site of Ft. Assiniboine and toward western Arctic lands; the other branch going NE then breaking north to descend the Athabasca River. Some conjecture that the Trail's crossing of the North Saskatchewan River at the site is the reason for the siting of fur-trade posts in Rossdale.Cushman, The Great North Trail, p. 11, endpaper mapPeter Stark, "The Old North Trail" https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/the-old-north-trail-49911446/ accessed April 7, 2025Coutu, From Castles to Forts (2004), p. 71

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.{{cite book| last = MacGregor| first = James| title = Edmonton: A History| publisher = Hurtig, 1975 Original from the University of Michigan Digitized 5 Jan 2007| year = 1975| page = [https://archive.org/details/edmontonhistory0000macg/page/17 17]| isbn = 0-88830-100-6| url = https://archive.org/details/edmontonhistory0000macg/page/17}}
  • 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.{{cite web|url=http://www.edmontonalberta.net/history.html |author=Real Estate Marketing services |title=Historical |accessdate=2009-02-27 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20081025132516/http://www.edmontonalberta.net/history.html |archivedate=October 25, 2008 }}

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.Edmonton House Journal 1806-1821, Nov. 6, 1812
  • 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. From 1830 to 1860, the fur trade in western Canda used Edmonton as a prominent trasnshipment point connecting the prairies with New Caledonia (interior BC) and with the fur trading posts up north. By 1860s ships were sailing from the Atlantic Ocean "around the Horn" to the west coast, and that more and more caused a decline in the importance of Edmonton as a transportation link.Frank Oliver, Founding of Edmonton (1921), p. 4 http://peel.library.ualberta.ca/bibliography/2879/7.html?qid=peelbib%7Cindian%7C%28peelnum%3A002879%29%7Cscore. accessed April 13, 2025
  • 1859-1860 - Gold rush in the Cariboo region of BC leads to gold-panners coming to Edmonton. Among them Thomas Clover, of Clover Bar. (Later dredges are used to mine gold from river bed.)"Early communities place names" online https://www.strathcona.ca/council-county/history-and-heritage/places/rural-districts/early-communities-place-names/#cloverbar accessed April 13, 2025 "Edmonton's river valley the glitter of the gold rush" https://albertashistoricplaces.com/2016/07/28/edmontons-river-valley-the-glitter-of-the-gold-rush/ accessed April 13, 2025
  • 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.){{Cite web|url=https://www.millwoodshistory.org/papaschase-reserve.html|title=Wayback Machine|website=www.millwoodshistory.org}}
  • 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, at the time an unincorporated hamlet, elected Frank Oliver as its first representative to the NWT Territorial Council.
  • 1886 – Edmonton's coldest temperature is recorded as {{convert|-49.4|C|abbr=on|1}} January 19.{{cite web|title=Climate Data Almanac for January 19|url=http://climate.weatheroffice.gc.ca/climateData/almanac_e.html?timeframe=4&Prov=XX&StationID=1863&Year=2007&Month=1&Day=19|publisher=Environment Canada|accessdate=16 October 2012|url-status=dead|archiveurl=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|archivedate=29 July 2012}}
  • 1891 - Calgary and Edmonton Railway was completed from Calgary to the south bank of North Saskatchewan River, across from the Edmonton settlement.
  • 1891 – Community of South Edmonton (Strathcona) was established south of the river at the end of steel of the Calgary and Edmonton Railway. (Became a town in 1899.){{cite book | last=Gilpin | first=John Frederick | title=The City of Strathcona, 1891–1912 | year=1978 | pages=1 2 | url=http://www.ourfutureourpast.ca/loc_hist/page.aspx?id=1059858 | accessdate=December 31, 2013}}
  • 1892
  • Edmonton incorporated as a town with a population of 700. Covered what is now downtown, north of the river.{{cite web|date=August 2008|title=City of Edmonton Population, Historical|url=http://webdocs.edmonton.ca/InfraPlan/demographic/Edmonton%20Population%20Historical.pdf|publisher=City of Edmonton|accessdate=2016-12-17}}"Telegraphic", Edmonton Bulletin, Jan 2, 1892
  • Edmonton's first town election. Matt McCauley elected mayor.
  • Rat Creek Rebellion - Mayor McCauley and an armed mob prevented transfer of Dominion land office to "South Edmonton" (Strathcona). A separate land office was established in South Edmonton."Robbers Attempt to steal the Land Office...", Edmonton Bulletin, June 20, 1892
  • Second McDougall Church is built at site of first church. (Now at Fort Edmonton Park)
  • 1894 - Edmonton Police force founded.
  • 1896 - Edmonton pioneer, newspaperman and NWT Council member Frank Oliver elected as MP for Alberta.Mardon and Mardon, Alberta Election Results
  • 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, south of the river, became Town of Strathcona.{{Cite book |title=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}}

20th century

File:Edmonton 1905 locomotive.png (CNoR) arrived in Edmonton in 1905.]]

  • 1900 – Low Level Bridge completed.
  • 1903
  • Edmonton Journal founded.
  • Methodist Church Board founds [http://www.albertaonrecord.ca/alberta-college Alberta College]
  • Edmonton, Yukon and Pacific Railway is built on the Low Level Bridge to connect Rossdale Station in Edmonton on the north side of the river by rail to Strathcona and thence to the outside world. In 1906 railway line is extended from Rossdale west to 124th Street and up out of the river valley, then back east along 104th Avenue to downtown Edmonton.
  • 1904
  • Incorporated as a city in 1904 with a population of 8,350.
  • 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. Alberta's first provincial election saw Edmonton elect Liberal Charles W. Cross as its MLA. Strathcona elected Liberal Alexander Cameron Rutherford, who served as Alberta's first premier.
  • 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 the cities of Strathcona and Edmonton, the population of Edmonton grew to 72,500.
  • 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.Morrow 2010, pp. 107–108{{Circular reference|date=September 2023}}
  • Arlington Apartments completed. (destroyed by fire in 2005)"Crews tear down historic Arlington Apartments". Edmonton Journal. Canwest Global. November 24, 2008. Retrieved 2008-12-05.{{Circular reference|date=September 2023}}
  • 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 completion 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.

File:Hotel-Macdonald-Edmonton-Alberta-1A.jpg

  • 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.Edmonton Bulletin, April 8, 1914, p. 5
  • 1915
  • Fort Edmonton (#5) was dismantled. (it would be recreated in 1974 at Fort Edmonton Park.)
  • Hotel Macdonald opened. 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 pandemic 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. (see 1954) (Today's Edmonton Elks have taken the team's old name).Edmonton Bulletin, June 21, 1921Edmonton Bulletin, October 17, 1922, p. 7Gateway, Nov. 21, 1922
  • 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.Rek, Municipal Elections in Edmonton
  • 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.{{cite web|url=http://corporate.flyeia.com/general_aviation/edmonton_city_centre/history|author=Edmonton Airports|title=Historical|accessdate=2009-02-27|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090505185035/http://corporate.flyeia.com/general_aviation/edmonton_city_centre/history|archivedate=2009-05-05}}
  • 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.{{cite web

|url = http://www.canadianeconomy.gc.ca/English/economy/1947Leduc_Oil_Discovery.html

|author = Government of Canada

|title = Historical

|accessdate = 2009-02-27

|url-status = dead

|archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20090216091945/http://canadianeconomy.gc.ca/english/economy/1947Leduc_Oil_Discovery.html

|archivedate = 2009-02-16

}}

File:1987 Edmonton Tornado path.png

  • 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 {{convert|38.3|C|abbr=on|1}}, on August 5.{{Cite book|last=Martha |first=Walls|title=Edmonton Book of Everything|publisher=Maclntyre Purcell Publishing Inc.|year=2007|pages=62, 64|isbn=978-0-9738063-4-2}}
  • 1999 – Phase IV of West Edmonton Mall opened.

21st century

{{Update|section|date=February 2021}}

  • 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.{{cite web|url=http://www.edmonton.ca/for_residents/Edmonton_Disaster_Timetable.pdf|title=Edmonton Disaster Timetable|publisher=City of Edmonton|accessdate=5 January 2010}}
  • 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.{{cite news|last=Mertz|first=Emily|title=Community marks five years since MacEwan fire|url=http://www.globaltvedmonton.com/community+marks+five+years+since+macewan+fire/6442683092/story.html|accessdate=17 October 2012|newspaper=Global Edmonton|date=20 July 2012}}
  • 2008 – Edmonton region population surpasses one million becoming the most northern city in North America with a population over one million.
  • 2009 – Edmonton submits a bid for Expo 2017.
  • 2009 - Electric trolley buses make their last runs on city streets.https://www.flickr.com/photos/flyer_901/2331906395 accessed April 3, 2025
  • 2010
  • The Art Gallery of Alberta is reopened in its new building.
  • Edmonton for first time uses single-seat wards and first-past-the-post voting to elect its city councillors.[https://www.edmonton.ca/city_government/municipal_elections/past-results Edmonton Election Results and History | City of Edmonton]
  • 2011
  • The Epcor Tower is completed, becoming Edmonton's tallest skyscraper.{{Contradictory inline|date=February 2021|section=20th century|reason=see 'Tallest building history contradiction' on Talk page}}
  • The Edmonton Clinic opens.
  • The city's homicide rate swells; 47 murders by the year.{{cite news|title=The Edmonton Journal's coverage of local homicides in 2011.|url=http://www.dipity.com/edmontonjournal/Edmonton-homicides-2011/|accessdate=26 March 2016|agency=Postmedia Network Inc.|publisher=Edmonton Journal|date=2012}}{{cite web|title=Edmonton homicide rate may swell police numbers|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/edmonton-homicide-rate-may-swell-police-numbers-1.1130927|publisher=CBC News|access-date=4 January 2012|date=3 January 2012}}
  • 2013 – The inaugural Tour of Alberta launches from Edmonton.{{cite web |title=Rohan Dennis, 23, wins Tour of Alberta|url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/rohan-dennis-23-wins-tour-of-alberta-1.1699206|publisher=CBC|date=8 September 2013|accessdate=8 September 2013}}
  • 2014 – 53-year-old Phu Lam murders his ex-wife and six relatives on December 29, the worst mass murder in Edmonton's history.[http://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/us/nine-dead-in-edmonton-canada-shooting-incidents-1.2051535 Nine dead in Edmonton shooting], Irish Times, 2014.
  • 2016
  • Construction is completed on August 16, 2016 for the Royal Alberta Museum's new location in Downtown Edmonton.{{cite web|title=Milestones|url=http://royalalbertamuseum.ca/new/milestones.cfm|website=Royal Alberta Museum|publisher=Government of Alberta|accessdate=5 September 2016}}
  • Rogers Place arena in Downtown opens in September.{{cite web|title=Final Piece of Funding for Downtown Arena Approved|url=http://www.edmonton.ca/city_government/news/2013/final-piece-of-funding-for-downtown-arena-approved.aspx|publisher=City of Edmonton|date=May 15, 2013|accessdate=August 25, 2013|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304072454/http://www.edmonton.ca/city_government/news/2013/final-piece-of-funding-for-downtown-arena-approved.aspx|archivedate=March 4, 2016}}
  • Anthony Henday Drive is officially completed with the opening of its northeast section, including two new bridges over the river, on October 1.{{cite news|last1=Kent|first1=Fletcher|title=Edmonton drivers relieved as northeast Anthony Henday construction nears completion|url=http://globalnews.ca/news/2876304/edmonton-drivers-relieved-as-northeast-anthony-henday-construction-nears-completion/|accessdate=5 September 2016|agency=Global News Edmonton|publisher=Corus Entertainment Inc.|date=10 August 2016}} It is the furthest north ring road in North America.{{Citation needed|date=February 2021|reason=Not mentioned in the main article for Anthony Henday Drive.}}
  • 2017
  • 2017 Edmonton attack
  • Completion of the new Walterdale Bridge as a replacement for the old bridge[https://globalnews.ca/news/3776582/edmonton-pedestrians-can-now-use-new-walterdale-bridge/ Edmonton pedestrians can now use new Walterdale Bridge]. Global News Retrieved August 9, 2023
  • 2018
  • Completion of the Stantec Tower{{cite news |url=https://edmontonjournal.com/business/real-estate/stantec-tower-set-to-be-canadas-tallest-outside-toronto |title=Stantec Tower in Edmonton set to be Canada's tallest outside Toronto |last=Kent |first=Gordon |date=September 15, 2015 |work=Edmonton Journal |accessdate=March 25, 2016}} becoming the tallest in building in Canada outside of Toronto.{{cite news |url=http://globalnews.ca/news/2228229/canadas-tallest-building-outside-toronto-under-construction-in-edmonton/ |title=Canada's tallest building outside Toronto under construction in Edmonton |last=Tucker |first=Erika |date=September 19, 2015 |work=Global News |accessdate=March 25, 2016}}{{cite news |url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/62-storey-tower-to-be-built-in-downtown-edmonton-1.2747702 |title=62-storey tower to be built in downtown Edmonton|date=August 26, 2014 |work=CBC News |accessdate=March 25, 2016}}
  • Construction on the JW Marriott Hotel completed, becoming the second tallest building in Edmonton{{cite news|last1=Mah|first1=Bill|title=Edmonton Ice District hotel upgraded to JW Marriott|url=https://edmontonjournal.com/business/commercial-real-estate/edmonton-ice-district-hotel-gets-upgraded-to-jw-marriott|accessdate=26 March 2016|agency=Post Media|publisher=Edmonton Journal|date=January 14, 2016|format=Video/Text}}
  • Opening of a new building for the Royal Alberta Museum to the public
  • 2020
  • Edmonton co-hosts the 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs behind closed doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[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]. NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P. Retrieved August 10, 2023
  • 2023
  • 2023 Heritage Classic

See also

References

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{{Edmonton}}

{{Edmonton annexations}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Edmonton History, Timeline Of}}

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Category:Timelines of cities in Canada