Carstairs is a town in central Alberta

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...

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. It is located on Highway 2A, 241 kilometres (149.8 mi) south of the provincial capital, Edmonton, and 48 kilometres (29.8 mi) north of Calgary, the nearest major city. The closest neighbouring communities are the towns of Didsbury

Didsbury, Alberta

Didsbury is a town in central Alberta, Canada, at the foothills of the Rocky Mountains.Located next to Alberta Highway 2A, near the Queen Elizabeth II Highway, Didsbury is within the Calgary-Edmonton corridor. Didsbury is approximately the half-way point between the cities of Calgary and Red...

 and Crossfield

Crossfield, Alberta

Crossfield is a town in southern Alberta, Canada within Rocky View County.Crossfield is located 43 kilometers or north of the City of Calgary, on Highway 2....

. Carstairs is located entirely within the rural Mountain View County

Mountain View County, Alberta

Mountain View County is a municipal district in Division No. 6 in the central Alberta, Canada. It is located between the cities of Calgary and Red Deer within the Calgary-Edmonton corridor. Mountain View County is a member of the Central Alberta Economic Partnership, Alberta Association of...

.

Named after Carstairs

Carstairs

The name Carstairs refers to a pair of villages located some 4–5 miles east of the town of Lanark in the administrative region of South Lanarkshire in southern Scotland....

, Scotland, Carstairs began life as a loading platform on the railway connecting Calgary

Calgary

Calgary is a city in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, approximately east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies...

 to Edmonton

Edmonton

Edmonton is the capital of the Canadian province of Alberta and is the province's second-largest city. Edmonton is located on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Capital Region, which is surrounded by the central region of the province.The city and its census...

.

Amenities

Carstairs is home to an 18-hole golf course, a Memorial Complex with abundant parks and playgrounds, and Tourist Information Center. Just west of town is the Silver Willow 9-hole golf course

Golf course

A golf course comprises a series of holes, each consisting of a teeing ground, fairway, rough and other hazards, and a green with a flagstick and cup, all designed for the game of golf. A standard round of golf consists of playing 18 holes, thus most golf courses have this number of holes...

. Carstairs has historically been an agricultural community,as it used to have 7 grain elevators in town. It celebrates each year with the Ranch Rodeo

Rodeo

Rodeo is a competitive sport which arose out of the working practices of cattle herding in Spain, Mexico, and later the United States, Canada, South America and Australia. It was based on the skills required of the working vaqueros and later, cowboys, in what today is the western United States,...

 in June, Beef & Barley Days and the annual rodeo in July, the High School Rodeo in September, 4-H

4-H

4-H in the United States is a youth organization administered by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture of the United States Department of Agriculture , with the mission of "engaging youth to reach their fullest potential while advancing the field of youth development." The name represents...

 Calf Show and Sale, Bull-A-Rama, Horticultural Show, and Pumpkin Festival.
There are 7 churches in the town, including the Carstairs Church of God, St. Agnes Catholic Church, and the Carstairs Bancroft United Church. One of the churches is being used as a museum that often has religious services.

Demographics

In 2006, Carstairs had a population of 2,656 living in 1,019 dwellings

House

A house is a building or structure that has the ability to be occupied for dwelling by human beings or other creatures. The term house includes many kinds of different dwellings ranging from rudimentary huts of nomadic tribes to free standing individual structures...

, a 17.8% increase from 2001. The town has a land area of 5 km² (1.9 sq mi) and a population density

Population density

Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...

 of 531.2 /km2.

External links

• Town of Carstairs
• Alberta First. Carstairs Statistics
• Mountainview Music Fest http://www.mvmf.ca