When the Dominion Land
Surveys opened up northern
Alberta in 1902 an hour’s
drive north of what is now
Edmonton, Edison was
established as one of the
region’s first agricultural
and transportation service
communities. Little more than
a decade later, the railway
| was built several kilometers
to the west and Edison was
absorbed by the new
settlement of Westlock.
Prior to settlement
through the Homestead Act,
this region had been a
transitory home for many
thousands of years to the
First Nations peoples and
| later to their successors in
the fur trade, Métis traders
and transportation workers.
No permanent settlement of
First Nations people in this
are has been recorded.
Although this area north
of Morinville welcomed other
settlers, Edison was the
first "community centre"
| between the Landing and
Simpson Trails.
This Community Memories
exhibit documents Edison’s
ascendancy as a community
centre from 1902 – 1913. The
record was created thanks to
the exemplary effort of the
community’s early diarists,
amateur historians,
|