Before Innisfail:
The first reported white man to see the Innisfail area and beyond was Anthony Henday. In October of 1754 he and his crew came to Alberta from Ontario with a mission to meet the infamous Blackfoot natives and perhaps trade with them. After receiving an indefinite answer from the Blackfoot (which Henday took as a �no�), Henday traveled back to Ontario with news that he had explored the area and had met with the Blackfoot. Since the answer had been unsure, there was no more expeditions to Alberta. Alberta remained relatively undisturbed by white people for a century until Rev. John McDougall came through the area. He made a trail from Fort Edmonton to Morley (near Banff) while he was on a church mission. This trail went right through the area where Innisfail is now located (Trails to Poplar Grove 5).
The Beginning:
A few years later, stage coaches were transporting back and forth from Calgary to Edmonton on an old Native trail called the �Wolf�s Track� (Poplar Grove 4). This track became a popular place for pioneers to travel on. It was around the 1880s when stopping houses appeared on the trail (later called the C&E Trail); stopping houses were places where the settlers could receive food and shelter as they passed through. The Innisfail area became originally known as Poplar Grove and more settlers from around the world came to the area. Alberta was originally known as N.W.T - Northwest Territory until in became a province in 1905.
The first people in the area were the Brown brothers and Sandy Fraser. The Browns, along with two other Scottish peoples, came to Poplar Grove and helped construct a stopping house known as �The Spruces�. In fact, Isabelle Brown (sister) was the first white woman to see the area. Sandy Fraser, Napoleon Remillard, Arthur Content, Dr. Henry George and Bill Kemp settled in the area from 1884-1887. These were Innisfail�s first settlers.
Dr. Henry George was an important physician and coroner for Calgary and Central Alberta. He settled in Innisfail and built a house he called �Lindum Lodge� (this is where the Dr. George/Kemp house is today). Later the house was occupied by Bill Kemp and Kate Jane Kemp, who ran it as a boarding house until the 60s.
Early Business:
More people continued to move to the Innisfail area. One event that increased the population was the construction of the railroad in 1889; the CPR finished the Innisfail's tracks in 1891. The CPR attracted more settlers and business. One of the first businessmen in the area was G. W. West. He is very important to Innisfail�s past as he ran a general store, meat market, and grocery store. He was Innisfail�s first proprietor when he moved here in 1891.
The Townsite:
By the 1900s, Innisfail was a village. The Union Bank was built where the Alberta Treasury Branch sits now. It was the first bank in town and later became the post office. The hospital and school were built. Hotels were built and popped up everywhere. The first hotel was the Murray Hotel (Innisfail: 75 Years a Town, 29). The Innisfail Hotel (the Zoo) is still standing. It was built in 1925 and the entrance was formerly facing south-west rather than straight west as it is today. The Opera House was built to watch the first motion pictures; it still stands as the Moose Hall. The first restaurants were mostly Chinese (such as the Club Caf�). Later, the New York Caf�, Modern Caf� and Paris Caf� appeared on main street (75 Years a Town, 58).
Present Buildings: The baseball field and bandstand were located where the Petro-Canada gas station and Ralston-Purina plant are. The Royal Hotel sat where Gaurdian Drugs sits today. A couple buildings down is the Gift Loft, which is original. Also, the TNT Used and New store is in its original building, although it was used as a store or garage.
Politics: The first MLA in the Innisfail area was J.A. Simpson. If you get a chance to look through any microfilm from 1906 on, you will see his name appear in almost every issue of the paper. He also owned a lumber store.
1910-1940:
Innisfail continued to grow and change. The first World War took its toll on Innisfail as men enrolled in the 187th battalion of the Canadian Infintry. Please look at the military display for more info on those who sacrificed their lives for us. After the war, Innisfail still grew throughout the 20s and 30s. The artifacts in the Historical Village generally stop around the 30s and mid 40s.
A jump in time:
The Innisfail and District Historical Society was founded around 1969. The Historical Village opened in 1972 and a rush of donations of artifacts came in. Most of the buildings on site were donated at this time.
Building Info
Blacksmith
-built in 1915 by Bill and Harvey Pass
- the building and most of the contents were donated by P.M. Duffield in the 1970s.
The Spruces
- built around 1884 by pioneers of the area as a stopping house
- it�s the only original stopping house left
- families later inhabited the house. The first was the Millers, then the Ross�.
- it was used as a house until 1972 when the Gibson family (Walter and Jean, Doug) donated it to the Historical Village.
- Doug Gibson is still on the board and volunteers his time to talk about The Spruces
Boardwalk Building
- built in 1999/2000 by the community
- headed by a committee of board members and members of the society
CPR Station
- built in 1904 in Bowden, deactivated October of 1968
- it was moved here in 1973 in two large chunks.
- you can still see on the shingles where they cut the building in two
- pictures of this move are in photo albums in the sitting room in the train station
-compiled by Allissa Fletcher. Works cited available upon request.
