Wetaskiwin ( ) is a city in the province of

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest T ...

, Canada. The city is located south of the provincial capital of

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city an ...

. The city name comes from the

Cree The Cree ( cr, néhinaw, script=Latn, , etc.; french: link=no, Cri) are a North American Indigenous people. They live primarily in Canada, where they form one of the country's largest First Nations. In Canada, over 350,000 people are Cree o ...

word ''wītaskiwinihk'', meaning "the hills where peace was made". Wetaskiwin is home to the

Reynolds-Alberta Museum The Reynolds-Alberta Museum is an agricultural, industrial, and transportation museum in Wetaskiwin, Alberta, Canada. The museum is situated on an property containing the main museum building, an aviation display hangar, and its storage facility. ...

, a museum dedicated to celebrating "the spirit of the machine" as well as the

Wetaskiwin and District Heritage Museum {{infobox Museum , name=Wetaskiwin & District Heritage Museum , image=museumfront.jpg , established=1986 , location=Wetaskiwin, Alberta Canada , coordinates={{Coord, 52.96946, -113.37519, type:landmark_region:CA-AB, display=inline,title , direct ...

, which documents the pioneer arrival and lifestyle in Wetaskiwin's early years. Southeast of Wetaskiwin, the

Alberta Central Railway Museum The Alberta Central Railway Museum is a railway museum located south-east of the City of Wetaskiwin, in Central Alberta, Canada. The main building was designed as a scaled-down version of the City's 1907 Canadian Pacific Railway depot. The depo ...

acknowledges the impact that the railway had on

Central Alberta Central Alberta is a region located in the Canadian province of Alberta. Central Alberta is the most densely populated rural area in the province. Agriculture and energy are important to the area's economy. Geography Central Alberta is bordered ...

. The city is well known in Western Canada for the slogan and

jingle A jingle is a short song or tune used in advertising and for other commercial uses. Jingles are a form of sound branding. A jingle contains one or more hooks and meaning that explicitly promote the product or service being advertised, usually ...

"Cars cost less in Wetaskiwin", from the Wetaskiwin Auto Dealers Association. Both have been in print, radio, and television advertisements since the mid-1970s.

History

The future location of Wetaskiwin was once the site of a battle between the Cree and the

Blackfoot The Blackfoot Confederacy, ''Niitsitapi'' or ''Siksikaitsitapi'' (ᖹᐟᒧᐧᒣᑯ, meaning "the people" or "Blackfoot language, Blackfoot-speaking real people"), is a historic collective name for linguistically related groups that make up t ...

, known as ''Wee-Tas-Ki-Win-Spatinow'' for "the place where peace was made".Alberta-Montana Heritage Partnership.
Alberta-Montana Discovery Guide: Museums, Parks, & Historic Sites
'. Montana Historical Society; 1997. . p. 79–. In 1890, when the

Calgary and Edmonton Railway The Calgary and Edmonton Railway (C&E) was an early pioneer railway in what was then the Northwest Territories, now Alberta, Canada. It connected the towns of Calgary and Strathcona (also called South Edmonton). Construction started in April 1 ...

was built, it became a whistle-stop, and was known as Siding 16. In 1892, when the area was surveyed, it was named Wetaskiwin to commemorate the battle. Shortly after the survey, a group of Scandinavian immigrants settled at the townsite. A number of businesses were established, as well as a newspaper, the ''Free Lance''. In 1900, a Baptist church was organized. One year later, the village, with a population of more than 500, and was officially incorporated.David Mittelstadt.
Foundations of Justice: Alberta's Historic Courthouses
'. University of Calgary Press; 2005. . p. 134, 142. By 1908, Wetaskiwin had a town hall and several churches. The town's courthouse was built in 1909, and the water tower was built at about the same time.
Stop the Car!: Discovering Central Alberta
'. TouchWood Editions; 4 April 2007. . p. 44–. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, Wetaskiwin airport was founded; it later became the site of the Reynolds-Alberta Museum.Gordon Riley.
Hawker Hurricane Survivors
'. Grub Street Publishing; 19 October 2015. . p. 183–.

Geography

Wetaskiwin sits on what was formerly the coast of the large sea that covered much of Alberta millions of years ago. The northwest end of Wetaskiwin is characterized by hills with sandy soil (formerly sand dunes), while the southeast end of the city is very flat with more silty soil. The city lies at an elevation of . ''Coal Lake'', a reservoir developed on the

Battle River Battle River is a river in central Alberta and western Saskatchewan. It is a major tributary of the North Saskatchewan River. The Battle River flows for and has a total drainage area of . The mean discharge is 10 m³/s at its mouth. His ...

is located immediately east of the city, and other nearby waterways include Pipestone Creek, Bigstone Creek, Bittern Lake and Bearhills Lake. Wetaskiwin is located at the junction of Highway 2A,

Highway 13 The following roads may be referred to as Route 13 or Highway 13. For a list of roads named A13, see List of A13 roads. International * Asian Highway 13 * European route E13 * European route E013 Afghanistan *The Kabul–Behsud Highway - N ...

and the

Canadian Pacific The Canadian Pacific Railway (french: Chemin de fer Canadien Pacifique) , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadi ...

railroad. It was a stagecoach stop between Calgary and Edmonton.

Climate

Wetaskiwin has a humid

continental climate Continental climates often have a significant annual variation in temperature (warm summers and cold winters). They tend to occur in the middle latitudes (40 to 55 north), within large landmasses where prevailing winds blow overland bringing so ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, nota ...

Dfb DFB may refer to: * Deerfield Beach, Florida, a city * Decafluorobutane, a fluorocarbon gas * Dem Franchize Boyz, former hip hop group, Atlanta, Georgia * Dfb, Köppen climate classification for Humid continental climate * Distributed-feedback ...

'') with warm summers that retain cool nights, and cold winters. It falls into zone 3b under

Plant hardiness zones A hardiness zone is a geographic area defined as having a certain average annual minimum temperature, a factor relevant to the survival of many plants. In some systems other statistics are included in the calculations. The original and most wide ...

Demographics

In the

2021 Census of Population The 2021 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population with a reference date of May 11, 2021. It follows the 2016 Canadian census, which recorded a population of 35,151,728. The overall response rate was 98%, which is sli ...

conducted by

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; french: Statistique Canada), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and cultu ...

, the City of Wetaskiwin had a population of 12,594 living in 5,186 of its 5,643 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 12,655. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021. In the 2016 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, the City of Wetaskiwin had a population of 12,655 living in 5,121 of its 5,563 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2011 population of 12,525. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2016. The population of Wetaskiwin according to its 2014 municipal census is 12,621, a change of from its 2009 municipal census population of 12,285. Almost 12% of the population identified as aboriginal at the time of the 2006 census. Almost 90% of residents identified English as their

first language A first language, native tongue, native language, mother tongue or L1 is the first language or dialect that a person has been exposed to from birth or within the critical period. In some countries, the term ''native language'' or ''mother to ...

. About 2.5% identified German, 1.5% French, 1.0%

, 0.9%

Tagalog Tagalog may refer to: Language * Tagalog language, a language spoken in the Philippines ** Old Tagalog, an archaic form of the language ** Batangas Tagalog, a dialect of the language * Tagalog script, the writing system historically used for Taga ...

, 0.5% identified Chinese, and 0.4% each identified

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

and

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

as their first language learned. About 75 percent of residents identified as Christian at the time of the 2001 census, while 24 percent indicated they had no religious affiliation. For specific denominations

found 20% identified as Roman Catholic, 15% identified with the

United Church of Canada The United Church of Canada (french: link=no, Église unie du Canada) is a mainline Protestant denomination that is the largest Protestant Christian denomination in Canada and the second largest Canadian Christian denomination after the Catholi ...

, more than 12% identified as

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched ...

, 5% identified as

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only ( believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul c ...

, more than 4% identified as

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of t ...

, and almost 2% identified as

Pentecostal Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a Protestantism, Protestant Charismatic Christianity, Charismatic Christian movement In 2004, Wetaskiwin City Council considered the possibility of demolishing the water tower, but concerned citizens convinced them the old tower was worth saving. Work to refurbish the tower began in 2005, and by 2006 the water tower was completely restored.

Peace cairn

The Wetaskiwin Peace Cairn commemorates 60 years of peace between the Blackfoot and Cree First Nations. This historic peace pact took place in a group of hills just north of present-day Wetaskiwin. At the time of construction, school children each carried a rock and walked in a procession from their school to the hill where the cairn was to be erected. The cairn was dedicated during the celebrations for Canada's Diamond Jubilee on 2 July 1927.

Manluk Centre

The ''Manluk Centre: Wetaskiwin Aquatics and Fitness'' is a 44,756 square foot facility that opened on 13 September 2014. The facility has the Flaman Fitness Facility on its second floor. Built over a two-year period, the facility was funded by contributions from local businesses and individuals. Amenities include a 25-metre pool, a leisure pool, a

lazy river A lazy river is a water ride found in water park A water park (or waterpark, water world) is an amusement park that features water play areas such as swimming pools, water slides, splash pads, water playgrounds, and lazy rivers, as well a ...

, wave machine, slides, whirlpool, and a steam room.

City Hall

The current City Hall was originally built as a courthouse, and was completed in 1908 at a cost $75,000. It was one of seven such buildings commissioned by the new Province of Alberta between 1906 and 1912, under the direction of Provincial Architect A. M. Jeffers. The building was constructed in modern renaissance style, with the outside being composed entirely of red brick. The front steps, the back steps, the columns, and the keystones are constructed of stone, and the foundation is made of concrete and rubble sheathed with sandstone from the Calgary area. In the early years, the basement of the courthouse contained the jail cells, the caretaker's residence, and the North-West Mounted Police residence. The cells are in their original state, and still contain the original carvings prisoners etched into the brick walls. The caretaker looked after the building and the grounds while his wife looked after the family, as well as feeding the prisoners and the members of the North-West Mounted Police housed there. In 1920, two German field cannons that were seized from Germany at the end of World War were placed on the front lawn of the Old Courthouse. These cannons, presented to the citizens of Wetaskiwin by the Dominion Government of Canada, served to honour the many men and women of this community who volunteered for active service. In 1983, a new courthouse was built, and the old courthouse sat empty for more than two decades. In the late 1990s, a local developer approached the city with plans to renovate it as City Hall's new home; after several meetings between the parties involved, the old courthouse was purchased by the city and renovation began in 2005. Glass was used to frame the new areas of the building; the brick exterior of the Old Courthouse was left undisturbed. Aside from changes required by Alberta's building codes, the requirements set out by Alberta Historical Resources were followed during the restoration of the original courtroom, which now serves as Council Chambers. The wood panelling was retained, and the cast iron radiators were connected to the new geothermal heating and cooling system. New paint and carpet completed the renovations, and in 2007 the building became Wetaskiwin's new City Hall.

By-the-Lake Park

Wetaskiwin's By-the-Lake Park, located near the Automile close to Wetaskiwin's downtown core, is a day-use facility featuring a 2.5-kilometre paved trail surrounding a 17-acre man-made lake and a large picnic area and a nature trail with signs identifying various plants and wildlife. The lake is stocked with fish for summer and winter fishing (Alberta Sport Fishing Regulations must be followed) and is used by school and community groups for canoeing and watersports. During the winter months the lake and surrounding area is used for cross-country skiing, ice skating, tobogganing, and pick-up games of pond-hockey.

Airport

Wetaskiwin Regional Airport is located in the city of Wetaskiwin.

Government

Historically the population of Wetaskiwin has voted Conservative in both provincial and federal politics. The city is currently represented in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

by MP Mike Lake of the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

Infrastructure

A regional airport is located within the city.

Media

Wetaskiwin is served by two local newspapers, the ''Pipestone Flyer'' and ''The Wetaskiwin Times''.

Education

Wetaskiwin Regional Public Schools operates area public schools, including Wetaskiwin Composite High School. St. Thomas Aquinas Roman Catholic Schools, the area Catholic school system, operates the Sacred Heart School (grades K-9) in Wetaskiwin.Sacred Heart School
" St. Thomas Aquinas Roman Catholic Schools. Retrieved on September 13, 2018.

Notable people

Rod Buskas Rod Dale Buskas (born January 7, 1961) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman who spent 11 seasons in the National Hockey League. A hard-nosed physical defender, Buskas is best known for his time with the Pittsburgh Penguins, whe ...

, former professional hockey player *

Jackson Davies Jackson Davies (born 17 March 1950) is a Canadian actor. He is best known for his role as RCMP Constable John Constable in the television series '' The Beachcombers'', which he reprised in the TV movies '' The New Beachcombers'' (2002) and ''A B ...

, actor *

Val Fonteyne Valere Ronald Fonteyne (born December 2, 1933) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey left winger. He played in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1959 to 1972, serving the Detroit Red Wings (on two tours of duty), New York Rangers and Pi ...

, former professional hockey player * Paul Greene, actor *

Gus Marker Augustus Solberg Marker (August 1, 1905 – October 7, 1997) was a Canadian professional ice hockey right winger who had played ten seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Maroons, Toronto Maple Leafs ...

, former professional hockey player * Lori Radke, former Paralympic wheelchair basketball player * Martin Sonnenberg, professional hockey player *

Allen York Allen York (born June 17, 1989) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender who played 11 games with the Columbus Blue Jackets in the National Hockey League. York was selected by the Blue Jackets in the 6th round (158th overall) of ...

, professional hockey player * Aritha van Herk, author, academic, critic, editor *

Justine Bouchard Justine Bouchard (born January 12, 1986) is a Canadian freestyle wrestler from Calgary, Alberta. Bouchard won a gold medal at the 2010 Commonwealth Games The 2010 Commonwealth Games (Hindi: 2010 राष्ट्रमण्डल खे ...

, gold medalist wrestler *

Harnarayan Singh Harnarayan Singh is a Canadian sports announcer and journalist. He became known for announcing the Punjabi-language broadcasts of ''Hockey Night in Canada,'' and currently calls games in English for Sportsnet and ''Hockey Night in Canada''. ...

, play-by-play announcer for the

Punjabi Punjabi, or Panjabi, most often refers to: * Something of, from, or related to Punjab, a region in India and Pakistan * Punjabi language * Punjabi people * Punjabi dialects and languages Punjabi may also refer to: * Punjabi (horse), a British Th ...

edition of

Hockey Night in Canada CBC Television has aired National Hockey League (NHL) broadcasts under the ''Hockey Night in Canada'' (often abbreviated ''Hockey Night'' or ''HNiC'') brand that is primarily associated with its Saturday night NHL broadcasts throughout its hi ...

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1899 establishments in the Northwest Territories Cities in Alberta Populated places established in 1899