Drayton Valley is a town in central Alberta, Canada. It is located on Highway 22 (Cowboy Trail), approximately southwest of Edmonton. It is surrounded by Brazeau County, known for its vast oil fields. The town is located between the North Saskatchewan River and the Pembina River. The town was named after Drayton, Hampshire, the birthplace of the wife of one of the Alberta town's postmasters.

History

Prior to the 1953 oil boom, the community of Drayton Valley was sparsely populated. The main economic activities were

farming Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled peop ...

and logging. Drayton Valley was incorporated as a village in 1956 and officially became a town in 1957. In 1955 a ferry was built to cross the North Saskatchewan River. The original bridge that replaced the ferry was eventually replaced by a new bridge in 2014.

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, the Town of Drayton Valley had a population of 7,291 living in 2,897 of its 3,250 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 7,235. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021. In the 2016 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, the Town of Drayton Valley recorded a population of 7,235 living in 2,782 of its 3,116 total private dwellings, a change from its 2011 population of 7,118. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2016.

Economy

Oil and gas is the primary driver of Drayton Valley's economy. Agriculture and forestry also play roles in the local economy. A sawmill is located in the town.

Attractions

Drayton Valley's Omniplex is a community sports centre that hosts

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two o ...

, ringette,

curling Curling is a sport in which players slide stones on a sheet of ice toward a target area which is segmented into four concentric circles. It is related to bowls, boules, and shuffleboard. Two teams, each with four players, take turns sliding ...

, soccer,

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding ...

and rodeo. The town also has a public

swimming pool A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, paddling pool, or simply pool, is a structure designed to hold water to enable Human swimming, swimming or other leisure activities. Pools can be built into the ground (in-ground pools) or built ...

, a

ski hill A ski is a narrow strip of semi-rigid material worn underfoot to glide over snow. Substantially longer than wide and characteristically employed in pairs, skis are attached to ski boots with ski bindings, with either a free, lockable, or partial ...

, a bowling alley, and the Drayton Valley Golf and Country Club.

Sports

Drayton Valley is the home of the Drayton Valley Thunder of the

Alberta Junior Hockey League The Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL) is an Alberta-based Junior A ice hockey league that belongs to the Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL). It was formed as a five-team league in 1964. There are currently 16 teams in the league. The r ...

. Drayton Valley is also home to the annual DV100 bicycle race.

Education

Drayton Valley has six public schools, two Catholic schools, and one outreach school. The public schools and outreach school are operated by the Wild Rose School Division while the Catholic schools are operated by the St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic School Division. ;Wild Rose School Division *Aurora Elementary School *Drayton Christian School *Evergreen Elementary School * Frank Maddock High School *Frank Maddock Outreach School *H.W. Pickup Junior High School ;St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic School Division *St. Anthony School * Holy Trinity Academy

Media

Drayton Valley is served by two weekly newspapers, the ''Drayton Valley Western Review'' and the ''Drayton Valley and District Free Press'' and one radio station,

CIBW-FM CIBW-FM is a canada, Canadian radio station that broadcasts a country music, country format at 92.9 FM broadcasting, FM in Drayton Valley, Alberta. The station is branded as ''Big West Country'' and is owned by the Jim Pattison Broadcast Group. ...

, mainly playing country music. A

Christian radio Christian radio is a Christian media radio format that focus on programming with a Christian message. Many such broadcasters play contemporary Christian music, though many programs include sermons, radio dramas, as well as news and talk prog ...

station, CIDV-FM, was launched in 2009.

Notable people

* Diana Janet McQueen, Canadian politician, Progressive Conservative MLA (2008-2015) * Dave Hakstol, NHL Head Coach for the

Seattle Kraken The Seattle Kraken are a professional ice hockey team based in Seattle. The Kraken compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference and began play during the league's 2021–22 season. ...

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1956 establishments in Alberta Towns in Alberta Former new towns in Alberta