Tofield

{{stack|{{multiple image|direction=vertical

| image1 = Tofield School, Tofield, Alta.jpg | width1 = 220 | caption1 = Tofield School

| image2 = Tofield Admin.jpg | width2 = 220 | caption2 = Administration building and library

| image3 = Tofield Hall.jpg | width3 = 220 | caption3 = Tofield Community Hall

}}}}

Before 1865, only Aboriginal people lived in this area, the home of the Cree. Beaverhill Lake (known then as Beaver or Beaver Hills Lake) was full of fish and wildfowl. A variety of wild fruits could be eaten fresh or added to pemmican. Big game animals, including herds of bison, were available for food and clothing.

Tofield's Aboriginal legacy is evident in the names of local creeks: Maskawan, Amisk and Ketchamoot. The latter refers to Chief Ketchamoot who came from Ft. Pitt in 1860 to help the local Crees against their traditional Blackfoot enemies. Victorious, he remained in the area, and is buried on the bank of the Ketchamoot Creek.

Tofield's first school was organized in 1890 and named McKenzie School in honor of the first postmaster in the area, at the Logan post office. The Tofield Post Office was obtained in 1897, and was located at the south end of Beaverhill Lake.

The town of Tofield had its beginning in 1906 when Morton and Adams built a General Store near the Post Office at a site southeast of present-day Tofield. By the spring of 1906 other businesses, including a lumber yard, hardware store, another general store, a drug store, a blacksmith shop and a hotel, had been founded.

Very soon after that, the town moved to a site northwest of the old site and north of the present townsite when the Edmonton-based company Crafts and Lee offered free lots that were near the site of the proposed route of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway. By fall of 1908 two blocks of businesses were filled and all residential lots were full.

Later that year the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway decided on a route south of the second townsite and the town moved again, to its present location. Tofield was proclaimed a village on September 9, 1907 and became a town just two years later in 1909.

{{unreferenced section|date=October 2012}}

Tofield is named after the pioneer medical man, Dr. J.H. Tofield, who came to the area in 1893 from England. He was born in Yorkshire and educated in Oxford as a doctor and as an engineer. Tofield arrived in Edmonton in 1882 and served as an army doctor in the Riel Rebellion. The name Tofield was first applied to the school district and in March 1898 to the post office.

Tofield experiences a humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification Dfb).

{{Weather box|width=auto; margin:auto

| metric first = yes

| single line = yes

| location = Tofield

| Jan record high C = 15.5

| Feb record high C = 15

| Mar record high C = 16.5

| Apr record high C = 30

| May record high C = 32

| Jun record high C = 30.6

| Jul record high C = 32.5

| Aug record high C = 33.5

| Sep record high C = 33

| Oct record high C = 28.5

| Nov record high C = 18.9

| Dec record high C = 14.9

| year record high C = 33.5

| Jan high C = -6.5

| Feb high C = -3.9

| Mar high C = 1.3

| Apr high C = 10.6

| May high C = 16.8

| Jun high C = 20.2

| Jul high C = 22.2

| Aug high C = 21.3

| Sep high C = 16.5

| Oct high C = 10.3

| Nov high C = -0.2

| Dec high C = -5.6

| year high C = 8.6

| Jan mean C = -11.6

| Feb mean C = -9.2

| Mar mean C = -3.7

| Apr mean C = 4.6

| May mean C = 10.5

| Jun mean C = 14.2

| Jul mean C = 16.3

| Aug mean C = 15.3

| Sep mean C = 10.6

| Oct mean C = 5

| Nov mean C = -4.6

| Dec mean C = -10.4

| year mean C = 3.1

| Jan low C = -16.6

| Feb low C = -14.6

| Mar low C = -8.7

| Apr low C = -1.3

| May low C = 4.2

| Jun low C = 8.1

| Jul low C = 10.5

| Aug low C = 9.3

| Sep low C = 4.7

| Oct low C = -0.4

| Nov low C = -9

| Dec low C = -15.2

| year low C = -2.4

| Jan record low C = -42.5

| Feb record low C = -42.5

| Mar record low C = -32

| Apr record low C = -31

| May record low C = -9

| Jun record low C = -2.5

| Jul record low C = 3

| Aug record low C = -3

| Sep record low C = -8.5

| Oct record low C = -23.5

| Nov record low C = -35.5

| Dec record low C = -45.6

| year record low C = -45.6

| Jan precipitation mm = 22.3

| Feb precipitation mm = 17.4

| Mar precipitation mm = 22.5

| Apr precipitation mm = 25.8

| May precipitation mm = 50.5

| Jun precipitation mm = 84.6

| Jul precipitation mm = 95.2

| Aug precipitation mm = 75.1

| Sep precipitation mm = 51.6

| Oct precipitation mm = 18.7

| Nov precipitation mm = 18.8

| Dec precipitation mm = 23.2

| year precipitation mm = 505.7

| source 1 = Environment CanadaEnvironment Canada—[http://climate.weatheroffice.gc.ca/climate_normals/results_e.html?Province=ALTA&StationName=&SearchType=&LocateBy=Province&Proximity=25&ProximityFrom=City&StationNumber=&IDType=MSC&CityName=&ParkName=&LatitudeDegrees=&LatitudeMinutes=&LongitudeDegrees=&LongitudeMinutes=&NormalsClass=A&SelNormals=&StnId=1990& Canadian Climate Normals 1971–2000], accessed 23 March 2010

| date = August 2010

}}

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, the Town of Tofield had a population of 2,045 living in 807 of its 871 total private dwellings, a change of {{percentage|{{#expr:2045-2081}}|2081|1}} from its 2016 population of 2,081. With a land area of {{cvt|8.21|km2}}, it had a population density of {{Pop density|2045|8.21|km2|sqmi|prec=1}} in 2021.{{cite web | url=https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810000202&geocode=A000248 | title=Population and dwelling counts: Canada, provinces and territories, and census subdivisions (municipalities) | publisher=Statistics Canada | date=February 9, 2022 | accessdate=February 9, 2022}}

In the 2016 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, the Town of Tofield recorded a population of 2,081 living in 814 of its 864 total private dwellings, a {{percentage|{{#expr:2081-2182}}|2182|1}} change from its 2011 population of 2,182. With a land area of {{convert|8.21|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}}, it had a population density of {{Pop density|2081|8.21|km2|sqmi|prec=1}} in 2016.{{cite web | url=http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/dp-pd/hlt-fst/pd-pl/Table.cfm?Lang=Eng&T=302&SR=1&S=86&O=A&RPP=9999&PR=48 | title=Population and dwelling counts, for Canada, provinces and territories, and census subdivisions (municipalities), 2016 and 2011 censuses – 100% data (Alberta) | publisher=Statistics Canada | date=February 8, 2017 | access-date=February 8, 2017}}

• Beaverhill Lake
• Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village

File:CEV7 hangars.jpg

;Transportation

The town is served by the Tofield Airport, operated by Town of Tofield.

C.W. Sears Elementary School provides education from Kindergarten to grade 4, Tofield School from grade 5 to 12, and Northstar Outreach School grades 10 to 12.{{cite web | url=http://www.brsd.ab.ca/Schools/ListofSchools/Pages/Default.aspx | title=List of Schools | publisher=Battle River School Division | access-date=2013-10-24}}

• List of communities in Alberta
• List of towns in Alberta

File:Main St. Tofield, Alta., Looking North.jpg|The main street of Tofield, looking north some time between 1911 and 1927

File:Royal Alexandra Hotel, Tofield, Alta.jpg|The Royal Alexandra Hotel in 1944. The caption incorrectly labels it as the Royal Alexander Hotel.

File:C.N.R. Station, Tofield, Alta.jpg|The Canadian Northern Railway station in Tofield, Alberta, in 1943.

{{Reflist}}

{{commons|Category:Tofield,_Alberta}}

• {{official website}}

{{Geographic location

| Centre = Tofield

| North = Chipman

| Northeast = Mundare

| East = Vegreville

| Southeast = Ryley

| South = Camrose

| Southwest = New Sarepta
Hay Lakes

| West = Beaumont

| Northwest = Edmonton

}}

{{Subdivisions of Alberta|towns=yes}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:1907 establishments in Alberta

Category:Beaver County, Alberta

Category:Towns in Alberta