Partner City Edmonton Gateway to the North

Some 14,000 years ago the First Peoples are believed to have crossed the Bering land bridge from Asia to North America. As they travelled south they came to an open vista of grasslands that stretched to the horizon. This was somewhere near modern Edmonton. They had discovered the prairies, one of the largest bodies of grassland on earth. It was here many of them made their homes following the gargantuan herds of buffalo. Some used the North Saskatchewan River to travel, fish, and trade. It was not until many millennia later the first Europeans arrived at this place, hardy traders in search of furs. They established the trading post of Fort Edmonton here in the 19th Century, and in the decades that followed a multicultural community of First Nations, Europeans and Métis grew up around the fort. In 1891 a railway branch line was extended north from Calgary to Edmonton, causing a population boom. When Alberta became a province in 1905, Edmonton's central location in the province contributed to the choice to make it the new provincial capital. Edmonton continued to grow, and by the 1930s it was the largest city in the province, a title it would hold until the 1980s. In addition to being the political capital, Edmonton is today the northernmost major city in North America., It is home to a number of cultural institutions like the Royal Alberta Museum, as well as a wide range of heritage buildings, including the historic neighbourhood of Strathcona on the south side of the river.

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Historic Walking Tours

Then and Now Photos