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  • : A three-storey brick cell block is connected to a workshop and another large industrial building with two tall chimneys. There is a large hole in the side of one of the buildings suggesting it had started to be dismantled and/or suffered structural damage. A tilled farm field that would have been worked by prisoners is in the foreground.

    Hard Times in the Alberta Penitentiary, 1906-1920

    Matt Ormandy

    The Alberta Penitentiary operated on Edmonton’s River Lot 20 from 1906 – 1920, where Clarke Stadium is today. It was the first federal prison in Alberta. One constant in prisoners’ lives was unpaid hard labour, from mining coal to farming potatoes.

  • Reverend McDougall’s 1871 Mission House: Epicentre of Edmonton’s Early Jewish Business Community

    Dylan Reade

    The year 2021 will be the 150th anniversary of the construction of Reverend George McDougall’s 1871 Methodist Mission House.  This important…

  • From Parking Lots to Palm Trees (And Back Again): A Look Back at Heritage Mall

    Matthew Dutczak

    Brenda Hall was just 18 years old when she stepped off the bus in the community of Kaskitayo on a…

  • Edmonton’s Merchant Prince: James Ramsey

    Lawrence Herzog

    Echoes of one of Edmonton’s earliest successful retail enterprises can be found in the new Kelly Ramsey Tower now being…

  • Signs of Another Time

    Lawrence Herzog

    Drive around the heart of Edmonton and you’ll see them. Worn by time, pounded by the elements but still clinging…

  • Remembering the Corner Store

    Lawrence Herzog

    A bell jangles as the weathered door creaks open and the smells and memories flood back:  being six years old,…

  • Edmonton’s Candied Past

    Lawrence Herzog

    Right from the beginning, Edmonton has had a sweet tooth. Newcomers from European countries brought with them a love for…

  • Modern Times: Christmas Shopping in Edmonton 100 Years Ago

    Sally Scott

    Christmas is rapidly approaching, and it’s not hard to catch the spirit of the holidays in Edmonton. Trees are lit…

  • “Be patient, some goods are scarce”: Edmonton’s Wartime Black Markets, 1939-1945

    Robert Morrison

    Today when people think of the black market, they picture the seedy underworld of society buying and selling firearms and…

  • Edmonton: A World Class Dump, Part One – Grierson Dump

    Dr. Russell Cobb

    Waste may be as old as humanity, but the idea of trash is a relatively modern concept. In the first…

  • The Mountifield House

    Lawrence Herzog

    Designed by renowned local architect James Edward Wize and built in 1905, the Mountifield House was one of Oliver’s earliest…

  • June 29, 1915 — Edmonton’s River Valley Floods

    Sally Scott

    On June 29, 1915, the North Saskatchewan River flooded Edmonton’s river valley. The river had flooded before, of course, but…