A Short History of Old Strathcona

Courtesy of Alhambra Books

10115 - 81 Avenue — On the Fuzzy Edge of Whyte Avenue

50,000 Quality Books At Affordable Prices

A Short History of Old Strathcona

By Tom Monto

(Excerpted from his 500-page book

Old Strathcona - Edmonton's Southside Roots

available at Alhambra Books and the OSF Booth at the Farmers’ Market.)

Through the 1800s, Wood Cree and Prairie Blackfoot battled in what is now southside Edmonton, asserting dominance in the long-standing “grey zone” between the two nations.
 

After peace was established at Peace Hills “Wetaskiwin” in 1871, Metis and Euro-Canadians felt safe to settle in southside Edmonton. Metis farmers, freighters, small entrepreneurs, working often for the Hudson’s Bay Company’s Fort Edmonton, settled along the south shore, from Cloverdale where William Bird established a flour mill alongside “Mill Creek,” to Garneau’s farmhouse, in today’s Garneau neighbourhood.
 

John Walter left his Fort Edmonton employment and settled on the southside. He started a ferry and established many other businesses in Walter’s Flats (Walterdale): lumberyard, coalmine, woodworking factory, etc., becoming Strathcona’s first millionaire.
 

James McKernan established a farm where today’s McKernan neighbourhood is.

An early survey (1882) carved up the land creating University Avenue, making the land ready for a wave of white pioneers, resulting in the 1885 Metis Rebellion. After the Metis were defeated, peace settled on a land joined to eastern Canada by the CPR through Calgary.
 

In 1891, the Calgary & Edmonton Railway connected Edmonton (or at least South Edmonton) to the CPR. The railway company built the Strathcona Hotel and the first railway station (a replica of this building now is at 10447 - 86 Avenue). The railway surveyed Main Street (today’s 104 Street) and Whyte Avenue, named after a CPR vice-president.
 

On the first trains came pioneer families whose names echo through the history of Old Strathcona:

– John Gainer and his packinghouses and 1902 butchershop (at 10341 Whyte)

– William Ross whose Ross Block still stands at 10309 Whyte.

– Robert Ritchie’s mill was built at the end-of-steel, where it stands as the oldest

surviving timber mill in western Canada.

– A.C. Rutherford arrived and established a legal practice on Whyte Avenue before

becoming Alberta‘s first premier in 1905.

Fine homes were built. One small area has A. McLean’s 1896 home at 10454 - 84 Ave.; Delmar Bard’s 1912 house at 10544 - 84 Ave.; J. Jackson’s 1912 house, 10443 - 85 Ave.

The pioneers brought with them the mutual-help groups they had known at Home.

– Loyal Orange Order. The Orange Hall still stands behind the Library.

– Masons. The 1929 Acacia Masonic Temple is on 83 Avenue.

 

Schools were built: Duggan Street (Queen Alexandra) School was built in 1906…

St. Anthony School, built by Roman Catholics, stands next to the historic Baptist Church, at 104 Street and 84 Ave … The 1909 Strathcona Collegiate (today’s Old Scona) is nearby.
 

A woodframe Commercial Hotel was built, later replaced by today’s brick Blues on Whyte.
 

The Yukon Gold Rush saw hundreds come to Strathcona, the closest rail point to that bonanza (although still 2200 kilometres away!) They spent money in Whyte Avenue stores, Many decided to settle here, some panning for gold at suitably-named Goldbar.
 

In 1899, the hamlet of South Edmonton became a town, named after CPR magnate Sir Donald Smith, the first baron of Strathcona and Mount Royal.
 

Edmontonians still dreamed of getting a railway and organized the Edmonton, Yukon and Pacific Railway. This railway – although not going as far as the Pacific…or the Yukon… or even out of Edmonton – did build a bridge across the river. The Low Level Bridge, the first bridge across the North Saskatchewan, opened for road traffic in 1900, for trains in 1902.
 

In 1901, Strathcona had 1500 residents. As befitting a metropolis of this size, town council outlawed the construction of woodframe buildings in the downtown, to lessen the threat of fire spreading. The new building code saw the construction of the Dominion Hotel (a replica stands on its original site, 10324 Whyte) and its neighbours, the Bank of Commerce Building and the Sheppard Block.
 

When the Province of Alberta was founded in 1905, Whyte Avenue lawyer Rutherford was elected its first premier. Rutherford named Strathcona as the location of the University of Alberta and the newly-built brick Queen Alexandra School at 78 Avenue and 106 Street became its first home. Strathcona’s MP Peter Talbot became a Canadian senator. Wilbert McIntyre of McIntyre Fountain fame became the new MP.

On March 15, 1907, Strathcona became a city. A city hall (since demolished) and a new firehall (now Walterdale Theatre) followed. Preparations were made for a new city hospital (later the U of A Hospital; since demolished) and for a Public Library (opened 1913).
 

1909–1913 High Level Bridge and the soon-to-be-lost Walterdale Bridge constructed.
 

The “Twin Cities” negotiated amalgamation—S’cona was guaranteed the McKernan Lake Streetcar line, nicknamed the Toonerville Trolley, an annual sports day at the Southside Athletic Grounds (today’s Strathcona Composite Schoolyard), a southside courthouse and city office, recognition as a single political entity for election-district boundaries, and more.

Amalgamation under one name “Edmonton” came into effect on February 1, 1912.

“Old Strathcona” struggled along as an overlooked sister, its businesses selling goods and services to local residents, the University crowd and area farmers in what would be the County of Strathcona. Its old buildings slowly became heritage properties and funky locations for movie sets, as the Old Strathcona Foundation and other local activists fended off their destruction by the city and private developers.