Old Strathcona's History Revealed in New Book by Tom Monto

Old Strathcona's History Revealed in New Book

Old Strathcona, Edmonton's Southside Roots,written by Tom Monto, is the story of southside Edmonton from its start as a scattering of Metis/Indian log cabins to its development as a bustling section of the City of Edmonton in the boom times of the 1920s. The community's history is filled with many ups and downs, personal tragedies and public victories, floods, fires, fights and frights. Author Tom Monto tells of the struggles of immigrant families, of farmers, workers and small business people, of political radicals and reformers, in such a way that comparisons with today's world are not difficult to see.
According to Old Strathcona, Edmonton Southside Roots, the first people to settle in the area were rough-and-ready employees of the old Fort Edmonton furtrading post. Many of them were Metis connected to the Papaschase Cree band in the area. A portion of the book written by Randy Lawrence elaborates on this connection. Through the 1880s pioneer white families moved in, the Cree band was moved out and the land surveyed in preparation for organized settlement.

The coming of the railway in 1891 gave a big impetus to the area's development. The Calgary and Edmonton Railway was expected to cross the river to connect to the "old town" of Edmonton on the northside. However, the railway did not bridge the river and "south Edmonton" grew up on the southside. The southside community grew outwards from its railway station and nearby railway hotel, that survives today as the Strathcona Hotel. The settlement's commercial centre filled up with simple woodframe buildings and later with more elaborate brick buildings, many of which survive even today. These historic buildings anchor today's Whyte Avenue, which is now Edmonton's premier historic area.

Strathcona became a town in 1899, then a city in 1907. Amalgamation with the larger city of Edmonton in 1912 ended the community's separate existence and the area was particularly hard hit by the downturn of WW I. However, residents of "Old Strathcona" played a large role in the life of the combined cities, as the last section of the book shows.

This extensively researched 500-page "door-stopper" includes numerous archival photographs, bibliographical footnotes and an index to the hundreds of names and buildings that it describes. It is a revised edition of the respected book that Monto published in 2008.

Copies of Old Strathcona, Edmonton's Southside Roots are available at Alhambra Books, 10115 - 81 Avenue, ph. 780-439-4195, for $38.