Author: wdhm@persona.ca

One of my most-loved walks around town with my dog starts on 50 Street and continues along the drainage ditch to the Automile.

This little strip of nature is one of my favourite things about Wetaskiwin. When I first moved here I thought this was simply a “parks and rec” plan to incorporate a wildlife or green corridor into an urban setting. Working at the Heritage Museum, however, it did not take long to learn that while this may be one of the by-products, it also has a more utilitarian purpose and its story is linked to the Great Flood of 1948.

It all began with heavy rainfall on Saturday, April 24. Then, from Sunday to Monday we got one of our inevitable late-April snowfalls. Only about a foot of snow fell, but when it started to melt into the already rain-soaked, and largely still-frozen, countryside, the water needed a place to go.

Around 9 p.m. on Tuesday Gus Roth, who lived west of town, noticed water gushing into his basement through the windows. He immediately dialled the city. By 1 a.m. Wednesday morning it was determined that the water was coming from the overflowing banks of nearby Sandy Lake west of Curt Smith’s Arbordale Farm.

While residents in the southwest section of the city were warned, volunteers headed out with picks and shovels to try to divert the water by means of a wide ditch along the North edge of the cemetery.

When Wetaskiwin was first being settled, a small creek meandered through town south of Main Street. By 1948 it was little more than a dried up bed that was all but forgotten; that is until the raising waters in the spring of 1948 followed their natural course.

Despite everyone’s efforts, the old creek bed became a torrent and water flowed down 49 Avenue like a raging river. This aerial photo from the City of Wetaskiwin archives’ collection gives a great view of the extent of the flood. The white building on the far right side is where No Frills and its parking lot are today, behind it is 49 street. The water coming in from the west pooled in this area and started to spread out.

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By Wednesday morning, the basements of several city blocks were under water and people needed to be rescued from their homes by boats. One woman was taken out of her home on a stretcher placed on a dray led by Lee Kelley’s draft horses. Another woman desperately wanted to take her washing machine with her, despite the fact it was in her flooded basement, under water.

As the water continued to head east, threatening the business district, efforts were devoted to opening a four foot with drainage ditch along 49 Avenue between 52 Street and the railroad with the assistance of the Eliason Brothers bulldozer. It worked well, until the water rushing down this ditch had nowhere to go. So they dug another ditch, this time east of the tracks along 49 Street to an old open channel and low area further north. Meanwhile, an earthen diversion dam was being constructed west of town to try and slow the water rushing into town.

The peak of the flood waters occurred Wednesday night. By Thursday morning the level had dropped a foot. But then on Friday, water levels began to rise on the north side of town. The city decided 200 pounds of dynamite was the answer and opened up an eight foot ditch north of the Calgary Power Building (today the Manluk Theatre).

The blast could be heard for miles and many business owners had a lot of shattered glass to clean up! It too backed up and the culvert under the railroad tracks was not large enough to successfully divert the water away from town.

The CPR denied a request to cut a ditch through the tracks unless there was an emergency within two days, and so everyone waited for the water to level to drop. More rain fell on the Saturday, it had now been a week, but fortunately the water levels continued to fall. Clean-up took months and the flood expenses were calculated at $10,769.

In 1948, residences in Wetaskiwin west of the tracks did not extend as far north as the ditch that was dug by hand beside the cemetery on the west edge of the city nor to the one further east beside the tracks that was created by a dynamite blast that blew in the windows of the Calgary Power building.

With time and careful planning, these two large ditches that were connected. The result is a drainage system that not only helps move water safely through our city and provides a green corridor for local wildlife, but is also the setting for a great little path I love to walk my dog along.

Originally published in the Wetaskiwin Times, August 7, 2019

After being closed during the constraints of prohibition, the Prince of Wales Hotel building was reopened by the military as a convalescent hospital to accommodate returning wounded from WWI. It was run by Captain J.R. Ogilvie and matron Mrs. Kenny from 1917-1919. The City of Wetaskiwin then took over ownership and relocated the community hospital into the building in 1922. This larger facility had six private rooms, men’s and women’s wards, each with three beds, and a four-crib nursery. There was also an x-ray room and an operating room.

Blanch Recknagle described the hospital as having:

“… about 20 beds – all on the second floor. The nurses lived on the third floor. Maternity cases were in the hospital for 2 to 3 weeks and in bed… At Christmas time they tried to clear the hospital of all patients. Room and board was $3 per day. The hospital was overrun by mice so they got a cat. Tommy Burke used to drive Dr. Shillabeer to the country on his calls. When they came back they would sit on the bottom step to the second floor and drink coffee.”

The building continued as Wetaskiwin’s hospital until 1931.

For the next few years, the old hospital housed the City of Wetaskiwin Offices and Library as well as several businesses in the basement including the News Advertiser. Eventually it was condemned and sat empty again.

After extensive renovations by Lloyd Bannerman, the Wales Hotel opened in 1934, and the building continued to operate as a hotel / bar and lodging once again until 2019. The hotel flourished in the 40s under new ownership and $20,000 worth of renovations that included the Wales Coffee Shop. This became a popular hangout for our RCMP officers for decades. There was also a self-service laundry in the basement. When it first opened a wash was 40 cents, partial dry 50 cents, wash and dry 60 cents, and ten cents more if served by the operator. The City of Wetaskiwin Archives has amazing images of variations of the Wales Hotel from the 50s through to the 80s.

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Over the past couple of weeks, I have learned what this building meant for our community including its more recent reincarnations as Riggers and The Rose Country Inn. Reminiscences include a small store in the basement called the Deacons Bench, a garden seed store, people calling future wives of 50+ years from the bar for their first date, teenagers sneaking in to see if they would get kicked out, wedding nights spend in the large suite on the top floor, and many friends and memories made.

Century-old buildings play a major role in our communal identity. They help to maintain a sense of permanency, provide a link between generations, and allow tourists and residents alike to witness first-hand the history of an area. Unfortunately, most do not realize this connection we have with historic buildings until we lose them. The words sad, tragic, inconsolable, heartbroken, and a lump in my throat recur again and again.

Speaking of the row of historic buildings on the south side of Main Street, a comment of “enjoy it while you can” felt like a blow to my stomach. The destruction of the Heritage Museum’s building, and those of its neighbours, does not have to be an inevitability. These buildings were specifically designed to survive such a fate after the great fire of 1903 that levelled the business district of Wetaskiwin. In fact, the quality of craftmanship, with its brick exterior and think timber interior was one of the reasons it took days to eventually put the hotel fire out.

Restoring and retrofitting these buildings, however, and bringing them up to modern standards can be costly. All the owners of our community’s historic buildings, non-profit and for-profit alike, need support from our community to do this. You can help by visting and buying from our establishments, while advocating for tax breaks and increased funding programs to help cover renovation costs. The reality is, putting money into a century-old building is a better long-term investment for all of us.

On the morning of Tuesday, March 19^th, the writs were issued for the 30th Provincial General Election while a building constructed before Alberta was even a province began to burn in one of its oldest cities. This is not lost on me. Maybe the importance of the preservation of historic buildings will be the ultimate legacy of the Prince of Wales Hotel and it can once again become a trendsetter.

Originally published in the Wetaskiwin Times, April 4, 2019

Once again, I was woken to images of heritage on fire. At first, I did not recognize the building engulfed in smoke. Then I realized that one of my board members was sending me a text from our parking lot. The historic hotel across the street was on fire. The good news is, nobody was hurt. Those living in the hotel got out, and thanks to our amazing firefighters and their comrades from Millet and Camrose the surrounding businesses were saved, while a pet cat and dog were rescued. This allows me to reflect from my front row seat of the destruction on what we have lost and the possible legacy it could have. Built heritage is my passion, and there is much I need to share. I hope you will indulge me with a two-part column.

While the building on the southwest corner of 50^th St. and 49^th Ave. was commonly referred to as the Wales Hotel, Riggers, Rocking Horse, or its most recent designation the Rose and Country Inn, it was originally the grand Prince of Wales Hotel, pictured here in a post card from our collection, and it held a very important place in the early history of our community and our province.

Vladarnir Matejka began its construction in 1903. At the time the settlement of Wetaskiwin had been growing for just over a decade, but it was still an important bustling town along the newly built CPR line between Calgary and Edmonton in the then North West Territories. The town was even in consideration for the capital of the future province of Alberta. While that did not happen, we were designated as a Judicial Capital of Central Alberta a few years later.

When it opened, the Prince of Wales Hotel was the only electrically lit building in Wetaskiwin. This was thanks to Mr. Matejka who had the foresight to install an electric plant by the Cunningham Electric Light Company out of Edmonton during the hotel’s construction in December 1903. The plant was of the latest style, supplying a direct current from a multipolar compound dynamo. Along with lighting, two of the many conveniences electricity allowed for when the hotel opened the following April was a complete call-boy system and hot water on demand. It was not until June that town council committed to municipal electric power, likely under pressure of the local business community. By the end of August, the Electric Light Company had wired other neighbouring businesses from the town’s new power house that could handle 1200 16-candle-power lights. The Prince of Wales Hotel was a trend setter.

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Along with the modern convenience of electricity, an article from May 28, 1904 in the Manitoba Free Press describes a large 1,700-gallon cistern on the roof of Wetaskiwin’s newest hotel. This allowed for things that we take for granted today such as running water as well as flushing toilets. Rooms were rented for $2 a night and hot water baths were advertised for public use from eight in the morning until eleven-thirty at night for a cost of fifty cents. Other amenities included a dining room, smoking room, billiard room, drawing room with a piano and large verandah, and four spacious sample rooms for commercial travelers to sell their goods to local merchants. While looking through our collection I found an advertisement page from the Wetaskiwin Times dated to March 18, 1909. Exactly 100 years and one day before fire. At the top are two ads for the Prince of Wales Hotel. The one in the right corner describes it as “Wetaskiwin’s Leading and Exclusive Hotel” with “Special Attention to Commercial Men & Tourists”, while that in the left gable of the house states “For the Best Meals in the City go to The Prince of Wales Buffet”.

Of course, there was also the bar where a glass of beer could be bought for a nickel and three drinks of Gooderham and Worts draught whiskey went for a fair two-bits. The washrooms, however, were not very large and many men took advantage of a small foot bridge over “Peeing Creek” behind the hotel. Like many hotels then, and now, the proprietor’s main profit was made in the bar. The arrival of prohibition in 1915 had a huge impact on business, and the hotel closed its doors a year later. This was only the beginning of the building’s 115-year history, however…

…The remaining story will continue in thefollowing post.

Originally published by the Wetaskiwin Times, March 28, 2019

I had never been to Wetaskiwin before I came to interview for the Heritage Museum. Having accepted the job offer, I was sent an orientation package that included a few issues of our local newspapers. There was no mention of the museum and so I put them aside and didn’t give them a second thought. Fast forward five years, reading those same weeklies I tossed aside has become a mid-week ritual. I understand now why they were sent to me, and they are one of those little things that I cherish about living in our community.

The first newspaper in Alberta was published on December 6, 1880. Similar to news agencies coming out of Edmonton today, the Edmonton Bulletin coverage included brief happenings in the Wetaskiwin area. It wasn’t until 1897 that Wetaskiwin had its own paper. The Free Lance was established by John H. Walker, better known for starting a drug store four years earlier. It was the first paper to be published between Calgary and Edmonton.

Bob Edwards served as editor, reporter, and writer for the lifespan of the Freelance, which was about a year, before he moved on. In 1900 Walker financed another paper, The Wetaskiwin News, which also lasted about a year. Edwards came back to town for a quick stint in 1901 publishing a few volumes of The Breeze before heading down to High River where he would eventually start writing the Eye Opener, which became well-known throughout Canada for its satirical content.

That same year, Victor Coleman French founded The Wetaskiwin Times. French, a veteran in the publishing trade, first came to Wetaskiwin when The Free Lance was being published and so he moved on, but his instincts told him to come back. Prior to 1901, local papers were printed elsewhere and so French rented a room in Mrs. Campbell’s Boarding House, just north of where the TD Bank stands today, and went to Winnipeg to purchase the necessary printing equipment.

His first issue of The Wetaskiwin Times was published and printed in that room on March 22, 1901. An annual subscription was $1. While other papers came and went the Times settled in. French continued as publisher for forty years, a record for Western Canada, until his death in 1942. Having merged with the Wetaskiwin News Advertiser in 1986, the Wetaskiwin Times continues to be published in both print and digital formats.

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The salutation in the first issue of The Wetaskiwin Times states that:

“The town will be brought to the front and placed before the world in its proper light, and both citizens and business men and the town will be benefitted by the undertaking… Its single aim will be the promotion of the welfare of Wetaskiwin and the rural district”.

Our weekly papers continue to do this. They play an important role in our community and their value should not be taken for granted. They help boost the local economy through advertising and in their news coverage. This is especially important for our local businesses and community organizations. A great way for us to reach our target audience is through papers that are delivered for free to homes throughout the City and County. Our papers also help keep us informed. I seldom have time to attend Council Meetings or read the minutes, and so I rely heavily on the paper to help keep me up-to-date.  The papers also continue to provide each of us with a form of expression. They offer the opportunity to make our voices heard through letters to the editor and enable us to deliberate on the future of our community. Most importantly, though, they bring us “good news” stories and remind us what we love about living here. The people behind our local weeklies are our neighbors, share our values, and understand our community because they are a part of it. The papers they produce are the heart and soul of what makes us a community.

When I first came to to town to celebrate the history and heritage of Wetaskiwin City, County, and Maskwacis, those who hired me knew I couldn’t do this until I got to know it better, and that the best way to do this was through its community newspapers. I continue to read the local papers, past and present. Both as a historian and a community member, they are my primary source. Recently I saw a quote that read “Reading a community newspaper is like coming home after spending many long hours travelling”. As our world becomes more globalized and hectic, we need something that brings us together. Our weekly papers, with their local stories, help get us back to that reality.