GRANDE PRAIRIE
ALBERTA, CANADA

HISTORY

One of the first tractors and threshing machines from the 1890's of the area are displayed at the Grande Prairie Museum.

Past City Mayors

2007- Dwight Logan

2001- Wayne Ayling

1992- Gordon Graydon

1986- Dwight Logan

1983- Hugh E. Impey

1977- Al Romanchuck

1974- James A. May

1968- Elmer Borstad

1958- George Repka

The Grande Prairie Armouries is located at 9005-101 Street and was built in 1941. When World War II broke out, this is where basic training took place for recruits in the Peace Country.

Grande Prairie Boxing Champ, Willie deWit won Gold at the 1982 Commonwealth Games in Australia. There after winning Silver at the Olympics. Grande Prairie named a street after Willie. Harry Snatic was Willie's trainer.

Grande Prairie hosted the Alberta Winter Games in 1980 and the Alberta Senior Games in 1986.

In 1995, Grande Prairie hosted the Canada Winter Games. The 14 day event saw 3000 athletes from 10 Provinces and 2 Territories. It was opened by Prime Minister Jean Chretien on February 19, 1995. Alberta finished 3rd in the medal count while Quebec placed 1st.

In 2000, the Alberta Summer Games were held in Grande Prairie with more than 2500 athletes and coaches.

Settlements found their way to Flying Shot Lake a few kms west of Grande Prairie, Bezanson, east and Bear Creek which is the present location of the City. On April 30th, 1914, Grande Prairie became a village and it was that same year that the Grande Prairie Herald started printing a weekly newspaper for the area. 1916 the 1st railway connected Grande Prairie to Edmonton, and in a short while, in 1919 the population quickly grew to 1040 ,Town status. In 1920, the population grew to 2,500 with a total of 175 buildings. There were 5 banks, a hospital, high school, water works, electric light plant, telephone system, farmers market, fire department, movie theatre, covered skating rink, and churches. In January of 1958, Grande Prairie became known as a city.

The Pioneer Hospital opened in Grande Prairie in June of 1914 and was later re-named Katherine Prittie Hospital. In 1961 the first Auxiliary Hospital in Alberta opened in Grande Prairie. The current 450 bed Queen Elizabeth II Hospital started construction in August of 1978. Queen Elizabeth came to Grande Prairie to turn the sod. In 1984, the Acute Care Tower was officially opened followed by the Mackenzie Place, a long-term facility in 1986. Mackenzie Place was named after the Scottish Explorer, Alexander Mackenzie who passed through the Peace Country in 1792.

In the 1920's, an American Homesteader named John Bickell moved his family from Washington, USA to a farm in the Peace Country. He started his first Bush Mill built at the family farm at Debolt. The company grew forming the Northern Planing Mill in Grande Prairie in the late 1940's. 1953, Bickell joined with partners to establish Northern Plywoods, Alberta's 1st Plywood Mill. Two years later, Canadian Forest Products, a British Columbia based company bought a 50% share of the company and later Canfor assumed greater control while continuing to expand.

The Grande Prairie Public School District formed in 1911. The district's first teacher was Irwin Macklin who taught school in a frame building with an old barrel converted into a stove. Montrose school was build in 1917. St. Joseph's Separate School District No. 28 was established in 1928. By 1932 students numbered at 38.

Also in 1911, the 1st Post Office opened in Grande Prairie.

Located in Bear Creek in the centre of the city, along 100 Avenue, is the Edmonton and BC Railway wooden trestle crossing built in 1924.

1919, Float Planes were introduced to Grande Prairie, landing at Bear Lake just to the west. Later a landing field was developed in the mid 1920's west of Grande Prairie. 1937 the 1st scheduled mail was flown into Grande Prairie and in 1941 Ottawa took over the Airport. It became the City's responsibility in February 1997, when a deal was made between the City and Federal Government.

Since 1937, 1050 CFGP was the only Radio Station in Grande Prairie. (In 1996 it changed to FM and changed its name to SunFM.) It wasn't until 1979 that another radio station came to town. CJXX was known for its country music format and owned by Monarch Broadcasting Ltd. It was bought by the Jim Pattison Broadcast Group in June of 2000 and in November of the same year changed from AM to FM. Now known as Big Country 93.1 XXFM.

The Daily Herald Tribune started in 1913 as a weekly newspaper and became a daily in 1964.

In October 5, 1996, Premier Ralph Klein officially opened Highway 40 south of the City to Grand Cache. The final few km of road was paved to complete it. Paving started on the north end of Highway 40 in 1982.

Grande Prairie's Dan Balisky piloted his Hot Air Balloon to take 1st place in the Canadian Championships in 1982. In 1982 Premier Lougheed opened the Provincial Building and Courthouse. 1982 was the year that the new Fair Grounds opened southeast of the City at Evergreen Park.

2010 EVENTS OF THE PEACE COUNTRY

Known as the "Swan City" Grande Prairie is situated in the middle of the Trumpeter Swan's major breeding area in Canada. In 1976, the city adopted the bird as its official symbol. A statue sits in Jubilee Park in the centre of the city on 100 Street and 103 Avenue.

Agriculture and Forestry were the two main industries for years, until 1978, with the announcement of the Elmworth deep basin gas field.

GRANDE PRAIRIE