Candles to Kilowatts
Chapter 1
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Edmonton Electric Lighting and Power Company Limited 1891 – 1901
Flick a light switch, turn on a television, use a microwave – we take many electrical conveniences for granted. But before the turn of the twentieth century, electricity was just a flickering novelty for most people. Since then, it has become central to our daily lives, a driving force of modern industry, and a multi-billion dollar enterprise. And for people in Edmonton, a home-grown utility has made electricity a reality for more than a century.
Milestones
1891
Alex Taylor starts the first electric plant in Edmonton.
The C&E Railway between Calgary and South Edmonton is completed.
1892
Edmonton is incorporated as a town.
1895
John Walter’s sawmill business is operational in Edmonton.
1896
Marconi applies for a patent on wireless telegraphy.
The Klondike Gold Rush begins.
The first long-distance, high-voltage transmission line (11 kV) carries power from St. Narcisse to Trois-Rivières, Québec, a distance of 29 km.
1898
The Edmonton Golf and Country Club is established.
1899
South Edmonton is incorporated as a town and renamed Strathcona.
The North Saskatchewan River floods Edmonton’s river valley.
EDMONTON’S EARLY GROWTH
Edmonton Electric Lighting and Power Company Limited has its roots in the early history of the City of Edmonton. Like other cities in western Canada, Edmonton began as a fur trading post. After relocating several times, Fort Edmonton was situated in the Edmonton area in 1802, when it was erected on the north bank of the North Saskatchewan River. In 1829, the fort was moved to higher ground near the present location of Alberta’s legislature building.
Fort Edmonton experienced two separate waves of newcomers. The first and smaller group were fur traders. These rugged individuals traded with Native peoples at the fort and transported furs along the North Saskatchewan in Edmonton-built York boats.
This way of life was not to continue for long. Demand for furs in North America and Europe diminished. In the 1870s, the rich agricultural land of the West attracted those who saw opportunities for farming and commerce. A new wave of newcomers began to arrive in what is now central Alberta, eager to homestead on the land that had been opened up by the traders. As businesses were established to provide goods and services for the homesteaders, a town grew up around Fort Edmonton. By 1890, the commercial core of this riverside community was well established along a thoroughfare known as Jasper Avenue This main street was lined with two-storey wood-frame stores selling jewelry, shoes, and hardware. There were hotels, a Masonic Hall, and the Hudson’s Bay Company store. One general store would later serve as the print shop for Frank Oliver’s Edmonton Bulletin, one of the city’s early newspapers.
The trickle of second-wave settlers became a torrent when the C&E Railway reached the south side of the North Saskatchewan in 1891. Edmonton had been clamoring for a rail line since 1882, when the Canadian Pacific Railway first reached Calgary. Although a railway bridge across the North Saskatchewan to Edmonton would not be built until after the new century began, the future capital benefitted from the increasing numbers of settlers arriving at the station on the south side.
Edmonton’s population grew steadily. During the summer of 1891, over 300 homesteading entries were filed. In 1892, Edmonton was incorporated as a town. Edmontonians were optimistic that the growth of their community would be sustained. This growing market several hundred kilometers from other major centres, combined with the development of electrical technologies, made a homegrown electrical utility a plausible investment.