Drumheller, Alberta
Encyclopedia
Drumheller is a town (formerly a city) within the Red Deer River
Red Deer River
The Red Deer River is a river in Alberta, Canada. It is a major tributary of the South Saskatchewan River.Red Deer River has a total length of and a drainage area of...
valley in the badlands of east-central Alberta
Alberta
Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
, 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 110 kilometres (68.4 mi) northeast of Calgary. The Drumheller portion of the Red Deer River valley, often referred to as Dinosaur Valley, has an approximate width of 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) and an approximate length of 28 kilometres (17.4 mi).
History
The town is named for Colonel Samuel Drumheller, who bought land in 1910 and started coal mining operations here in 1911. Drumheller became a railway station in 1912, a village in 1913, a town in 1916 and a city in 1930.During the peak of the coal era (1920s) Drumheller's population exploded to approximately 3,000 and it became a city in 1930. Once Western Canada's largest coal producer, Drumheller now contributes to a vibrant energy sector and boasts Alberta's second largest natural gas deposit, the West Drumheller Field.
To benefit from Provincial and Federal grants, the City of Drumheller dropped its city status in favour of town status when it amalgamated with the Municipal District (M.D.) of Badlands No. 7 on January 1, 1998. As a result of the amalgamation, Drumheller became Alberta’s largest town in terms of area at 111 square kilometres (42.9 sq mi).
The 1998 amalgamation with the M.D. of Badlands No. 7 resulted in Drumheller absorbing seven unincorporated communities that were previously under the jurisdiction of the M.D. – Aerial, Cambria, East Coulee
East Coulee, Alberta
East Coulee is a former hamlet, now unincorporated community, in Drumheller, Alberta. Its hamlet status ceased when the Municipal District of Badlands No...
, Lehigh, Nacmine
Nacmine, Alberta
Nacmine is a community within the Town of Drumheller in southern Alberta, located on South Dinosaur Trail west of the downtown Drumheller site, approximately northeast of Calgary....
, Rosedale
Rosedale, Alberta
Rosedale is a community in southern Alberta, located on Highway 56, northeast of Calgary, at the confluence of Rosebud River and Red Deer River....
and Wayne
Wayne, Alberta
Wayne was an unincorporated community in southern Alberta in Wheatland County, located south of Rosedale on Highway 10X, northeast of Calgary. It is now administered by the town of Drumheller....
. Drumheller also previously absorbed the sizeable communities of Midlandvale
Midlandvale, Alberta
Midlandvale was a small mining town in the south of Alberta, Canada. Most of what remains of the town has been absorbed by the nearby town of Drumheller, of a population of nearly 8,000.- History :...
, Newcastle
Newcastle, Alberta
Newcastle is a former village in central Alberta, Canada on the south shore of the Red Deer River along Highway 575, west of Highway 9. It was incorporated as a village on March 16, 1923. It subsequently dissolved from village status on May 21, 1931....
and North Drumheller during annexations while under city status. Eladesor, Kneehill, Rosedale Station, Western Monarch and Willow Creek are numerous other localities within Drumheller that were absorbed through past annexations or its eventual amalgamation with the M.D. of Badlands No. 7.
In total, Drumheller has absorbed at least 13 other communities in its history, some of which are now recognized as neighbourhoods or districts within the town.
Drumheller has been the filming location for more than 50 commercials, television and cinematic productions including Running Brave
Running Brave
Running Brave is a 1983 movie based on the story of Billy Mills, a North American Indian brought up on the reservation, destined against all odds to become the best distance runner in the world in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics....
, MythQuest
MythQuest
MythQuest is a Canadian television series that originally aired on PBS in 2001. It stars Meredith Henderson and Christopher Jacot as Cleo and Alex Bellows, two teens whose father Matt disappears into the Cyber Museum, a computer program that, as they discover, allows them to travel into myths by...
, Unforgiven
Unforgiven
Unforgiven is a 1992 American Western film produced and directed by Clint Eastwood with a screenplay written by David Webb Peoples. The film tells the story of William Munny, an aging outlaw and killer who takes on one more job years after he had hung up his guns and turned to farming...
, ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
's miniseries Dreamkeeper
Dreamkeeper
Dreamkeeper is a 2003 film written by John Fusco and directed by Steve Barron. The main plot of the film is the conflict between a Lakota elder and storyteller named Pete Chasing Horse and his Lakota grandson, Shane Chasing Horse...
and TNT
Turner Network Television
Turner Network Television is an American cable television channel created by media mogul Ted Turner and currently owned by the Turner Broadcasting System division of Time Warner...
's miniseries Into the West
Into the West (TV miniseries)
Into the West is a 2005 miniseries produced by Steven Spielberg and Dreamworks, with six two-hour episodes . The series was first broadcast in the U.S. on Turner Network Television on six Fridays starting on June 10, 2005...
.
Attractions
South of the traffic bridge over the Red Deer river on Highway 9 is the World's Largest DinosaurWorld's Largest Dinosaur
The "World's Largest Dinosaur" is the name of a model Tyrannosaurus rex located in the town of Drumheller in the Canadian province of Alberta...
, a 26.2 metres (86 ft) high fiberglass Tyrannosaurus rex
Tyrannosaurus
Tyrannosaurus meaning "tyrant," and sauros meaning "lizard") is a genus of coelurosaurian theropod dinosaur. The species Tyrannosaurus rex , commonly abbreviated to T. rex, is a fixture in popular culture. It lived throughout what is now western North America, with a much wider range than other...
that can be entered for a view of the Badlands, including the adjacent 23 metre (75 ft) water fountain, again one of the largest in Canada.
Tourist attractions also include the Star Mine Suspension Bridge
Star Mine Suspension Bridge
The Star Mine Suspension Bridge is a 117 meter long pedestrian suspension bridge across the Red Deer River in Drumheller, Alberta, Canada. Constructed in 1931, it was built for the coal workers of Star Mine...
, Atlas Coal Mine
Atlas Coal Mine
The Atlas Coal Mine is a former coal mine in Alberta, Canada. Located in East Coulee, it is home to the last standing wooden tipple in Canada. It was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1989.-History:...
, Drumheller Valley Ski Hill, Reptile World,
Canadian Badlands Passion Play
Passion play
A Passion play is a dramatic presentation depicting the Passion of Jesus Christ: his trial, suffering and death. It is a traditional part of Lent in several Christian denominations, particularly in Catholic tradition....
, Horseshoe Canyon
Horseshoe Canyon (Alberta)
Horseshoe Canyon is a region of badlands surrounded by prairie in the province of Alberta, Canada. It is located about 17 km west of Drumheller, Alberta, along Highway 9....
, Water Spray Park, Aquaplex with indoor and outdoor pools, Horse Thief Canyon, hoodoo
Hoodoo (geology)
A hoodoo is a tall, thin spire of rock that protrudes from the bottom of an arid drainage basin or badland. Hoodoos consist of relatively soft rock topped by harder, less easily eroded stone that protects each column from the elements...
s, Midland Provincial Park
Midland Provincial Park
Midland Provincial Park is a provincial park located in Alberta, Canada.Once the site of the Midland Coal Mine, it was designated as a provincial park on June 5, 1979. It now hosts the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology...
, Rosedeer Hotel in Wayne, 27 kilometres (16.8 mi) of constructed pathways, Bleriot Ferry
Bleriot Ferry
The Bleriot Ferry is a ferry in Alberta, Canada. It links the two sections of the North Dinosaur Trail as it crosses the Red Deer River from Kneehill County on the west, to Starland County on the east...
, East Coulee School Museum, Homestead Museum, Reptile World (the largest display of reptiles in Western Canada) and Little Church which is capable of seating only six patrons.
Next to Drumheller ski hill is the Canadian Badlands Passion Play
The Canadian Badlands Passion Play
The Canadian Badlands Passion Play is a passion play performed annually since 1994 in Drumheller, Alberta. The play takes place every July in a natural bowl amphitheater found in the Drumheller Valley. The outdoor stage was chosen for its likeness to the hills found near Jerusalem, Israel, as...
site, where, for two weeks each July, performances are held. Companies are composed of actors from all over Alberta. The site also offers small plays throughout the summer and an interpretive centre.
Royal Tyrrell Museum
The Royal Tyrrell Museum of PalaeontologyRoyal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology
The Royal Tyrrell Museum is a popular Canadian tourist attraction and a leading centre of palaeontological research noted for its collection of more than 130,000 fossils....
is a museum that hosts Canada's largest collection of dinosaur fossils. It boasts 375,000 visitors a year, the largest of all provincial museum attractions. It opened on September 25, 1985. The Royal Tyrrell Museum is located in the northwest quadrant of the Town of Drumheller, in Midland Provincial Park.
Media
Newspapers covering Drumheller include the weekly Drumheller Mail, which has been publishing every Wednesday for 99 years and has been owned by the Sheddy family since 1954.Drumheller is within range of the radio
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
and television station
Television station
A television station is a business, organisation or other such as an amateur television operator that transmits content over terrestrial television. A television transmission can be by analog television signals or, more recently, by digital television. Broadcast television systems standards are...
s in 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...
and Red Deer
Red Deer, Alberta
Red Deer is a city in Central Alberta, Canada. It is located near the midpoint of the Calgary-Edmonton Corridor and is surrounded by Red Deer County. It is Alberta's third-most-populous city – after Calgary and Edmonton. The city is located in aspen parkland, a region of rolling hills...
, however reception within the town is poor due to the terrain of the Badlands
Badlands
A badlands is a type of dry terrain where softer sedimentary rocks and clay-rich soils have been extensively eroded by wind and water. It can resemble malpaís, a terrain of volcanic rock. Canyons, ravines, gullies, hoodoos and other such geological forms are common in badlands. They are often...
.
Radio
- AM 910: CKDQ, country music
- FM 91.3: CKUA-FM-13, public broadcastingPublic broadcastingPublic broadcasting includes radio, television and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service. Public broadcasters receive funding from diverse sources including license fees, individual contributions, public financing and commercial financing.Public broadcasting may be...
(relay) - FM 94.5: CHTR-FMCHTR-FMCHTR-FM is a tourist information radio station that operates at 94.5 FM in Drumheller, Alberta, Canada.Owned by Big Country Tourist Association, the station was licenced in 1991....
, tourist information - FM 99.5: CHOO-FMCHOO-FMCHOO-FM is a new Canadian radio station, that will broadcast an adult contemporary format at 99.5 FM in Drumheller, Alberta. The station is branded as 99.5 Drum FM. This is Drumheller's first and only FM radio station....
, adult contemporary
Television
All stations are relays of stations from Calgary.- Channel 3: CBRT-14 (CBC TelevisionCBC TelevisionCBC Television is a Canadian television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster.Although the CBC is supported by public funding, the television network supplements this funding with commercial advertising revenue, in contrast to CBC Radio which are...
) (city grade) - Channel 6: CBRT-2 (CBC TelevisionCBC TelevisionCBC Television is a Canadian television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster.Although the CBC is supported by public funding, the television network supplements this funding with commercial advertising revenue, in contrast to CBC Radio which are...
) (serving NacmineNacmine, AlbertaNacmine is a community within the Town of Drumheller in southern Alberta, located on South Dinosaur Trail west of the downtown Drumheller site, approximately northeast of Calgary....
) - Channel 8: CICT-TV-1CICT-TVCICT-DT is a Canadian television station, licensed to and serving Calgary, Alberta. It is owned by Shaw Media, and is an owned-and-operated station of the Global Television Network...
(GlobalGlobal Television NetworkGlobal Television Network is an English language privately owned television network in Canada, owned by Calgary-based Shaw Communications, as part of its Shaw Media division...
) - Channel 10: CFCN-TV-6CFCN-TVCFCN-DT is a Canadian television station, broadcasting in Calgary, Alberta. Owned and operated by Bell Media, it is a part of the CTV Television Network. The station also operates a semi-satellite in Lethbridge....
(CTVCTV television networkCTV Television Network is a Canadian English language television network and is owned by Bell Media. It is Canada's largest privately-owned network, and has consistently placed as Canada's top-rated network in total viewers and in key demographics since 2002, after several years trailing the rival...
) (city grade) - Channel 12: CFCN-TV-1CFCN-TVCFCN-DT is a Canadian television station, broadcasting in Calgary, Alberta. Owned and operated by Bell Media, it is a part of the CTV Television Network. The station also operates a semi-satellite in Lethbridge....
(CTVCTV television networkCTV Television Network is a Canadian English language television network and is owned by Bell Media. It is Canada's largest privately-owned network, and has consistently placed as Canada's top-rated network in total viewers and in key demographics since 2002, after several years trailing the rival...
) (from DeliaDelia, AlbertaDelia is a village in southern Alberta, located northeast of Drumheller. It is a small farming community 1 km off of Highway 9, located just North of the beautiful Handhills. It was named for Delia Davis, wife of Alvin L...
)
Climate
Demographics
According to the Canada 2006 CensusCanada 2006 Census
The Canada 2006 Census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population. Census day was May 16, 2006. The next census following will be the 2011 Census. Canada's total population enumerated by the 2006 census was 31,612,897...
:
| Population: | 7,932 |
| Land area: | 110.8 square kilometres (42.8 sq mi) |
| Population density: | 73.5 people/km² (190.4/sq mi) |
| Median age: | 39.7 (males: 37.0, females: 43.1) |
| Total private dwellings: | 3,244 |
| Mean household income: | $56,029 |