Hardisty, Alberta
Encyclopedia
Hardisty, Alberta is a town in Flagstaff County
Flagstaff County, Alberta
Flagstaff County is a municipal district in east central Alberta, Canada.It is located in Census Division 7. The county was incorporated in the current boundaries in 1944 as Municipal District of Killam No. 390, name changed a year later to Municipal District of Flagstaff No. 62. It was established...
in 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 in 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...
, 111 kilometres (69 mi) from the Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....
border, near the crossroads of Highway 13 and Highway 881
Alberta Highway 881
Alberta Provincial Highway No. 881 is a highway in the province of Alberta, Canada. It runs south-north in two sections, from Highway 13 in Hardisty to Highway 55, then from Highway 55 in Lac La Biche to Highway 63 south of Fort McMurray. There is a break between the two sections, where Highway 55...
, in the Battle River
Battle River (Canada)
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...
Valley.
History
The Town of Hardisty was named after Senator Richard HardistyRichard Hardisty
Richard Charles Hardisty was a politician from Northwest Territories, Canada.Richard ran as an Independent Conservative in the 1887 Canadian federal election and finished a close second in the Alberta . He lost to Donald Watson Davis.Richard was appointed to the Canadian Senate on the advice of...
. It began in 1906 as a hamlet, and officially became a town in 1911.
The first people we know of to live in the Battle River Valley were the native First Nations. This country was the wintering grounds for thousands of buffalo, moose, elk and deer, which attracted these people to the area.
The Town of Hardisty owes its existence to the Canadian Pacific Railway
Canadian Pacific Railway
The Canadian Pacific Railway , formerly also known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a historic Canadian Class I railway founded in 1881 and now operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, which began operations as legal owner in a corporate restructuring in 2001...
. About 1904 the surveyors began to survey the railroad from the east and decided to locate a divisional point
Divisional point
In Canada, a divisional point is a railway depot that includes more than just a basic siding or station.- Overview :In the coal and steam era, a divisional point would include such amenities as a substantial passenger station, freight and baggage sheds, a roundhouse, water tank, coaling and sanding...
at Hardisty because of the good water supply from the river.
Although this was a trading centre as early as 1904, it became a boom town by 1906, spawned by the influx of workers who were building the CPR. By the fall of 1906 the rail line reached Hardisty from Daysland. Then began the task of building the bridge, a task which took about three years.
Settlers also began arriving in large numbers. During 1906 to 1907, Hardisty was referred to as a tent town because people lived in tents until lumber could be hauled in. Business places sprang up overnight and, as with many towns, they were built along the railroad track.
Demographics
In 2006, Hardisty had a population of 760 living in 397 dwellingsHouse
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 2.3% increase from 2001. The town has a land area of 5.48 km² (2.1 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 138.6 /km2.
Industry
The main industries in and around Hardisty are petroleumPetroleum
Petroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights and other liquid organic compounds, that are found in geologic formations beneath the Earth's surface. Petroleum is recovered mostly through oil drilling...
and farming. There is a large petroleum
Petroleum
Petroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights and other liquid organic compounds, that are found in geologic formations beneath the Earth's surface. Petroleum is recovered mostly through oil drilling...
"tank farm
Tank farm
Tank farm may refer to the:*Alternate name for an oil depot, a facility for storage of liquid petroleum products or petrochemicals*Tank Farm, also known as 'Tuff Crater', a volcanic crater in the Auckland Volcanic Field, New Zealand...
" near Hardisty, which is also a nexus of oil pipelines
Pipeline transport
Pipeline transport is the transportation of goods through a pipe. Most commonly, liquids and gases are sent, but pneumatic tubes that transport solid capsules using compressed air are also used....
. The oil industry in Hardisty focuses primarily on transport rather than oil processing or collection. Some of the petroleum
Petroleum
Petroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights and other liquid organic compounds, that are found in geologic formations beneath the Earth's surface. Petroleum is recovered mostly through oil drilling...
companies are, Gibson Energy, Enbridge
Enbridge
Enbridge Inc. is a Calgary, Alberta based company focused on three core businesses: crude oil and liquids pipelines, natural gas transportation and distribution, and green energy. The company has approximately 6,000 employees, mostly in Canada and the United States...
, EnCana Corporation
EnCana Corporation
Encana Corporation is one of North America's largest natural gas producers, with about 95 percent of its production being natural gas. Its strategy is to be the lowest-cost, highest-growth senior natural gas producer in North America. The company produced approximately of natural gas in 2010.The...
, and many others.
Hardisty is the start of the controversial Keystone Pipeline
Keystone Pipeline
The Keystone Pipeline System is a pipeline system to transport synthetic crude oil and diluted bitumen from the Athabasca Oil Sands in northeastern Alberta, Canada to multiple destinations in the United States, which include refineries in Illinois, Cushing oil distribution hub in Oklahoma, and...
, which transports synthetic crude oil from the Athabasca Oil Sands
Athabasca Oil Sands
The Athabasca oil sands are large deposits of bitumen, or extremely heavy crude oil, located in northeastern Alberta, Canada - roughly centred on the boomtown of Fort McMurray...
to refineries in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Education
Hardisty's school is named Allan Johnstone School, and teaches kindergarten and Grades 1 to 9. High school students (Grades 10 to 12), are taken by bus to SedgewickSedgewick, Alberta
Sedgewick is a town in central Alberta, Canada. It is located east of Camrose at the junction of Highway 13 and Highway 869. The Canadian Pacific Railway runs through the town.-Demographics:...
. There is also a playschool in Hardisty.
Recreation
Hardisty Lake Park is located within the town limits and has camping, swimming, boating, trout fishing, golfing on grass greens, baseball diamonds, rodeos and sporting events. Hardisty also has a soccer field.The winter sports consist of curling, skating, hockey, ice fishing, downhill and cross-country skiing.
For hunters, upland game, geese, ducks, mule and whitetail deer are plentiful. Hunters from miles around come to the district for their limits.
TV Show
Paperny FilmsPaperny Films
Paperny Entertainment is a Vancouver-based, Academy Award nominated producer of television programming and films, ranging from character-driven documentaries to provocative comedy to quirky reality shows...
taped the reality television
Reality television
Reality television is a genre of television programming that presents purportedly unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events, and usually features ordinary people instead of professional actors, sometimes in a contest or other situation where a prize is awarded...
show The Week The Women Went
The Week the Women Went
The Week The Women Went was a television show produced by Paperny Films, and based on a BBC Three program of the same title. The show was part documentary, part reality television, that explores what happens when all the women in an ordinary Canadian town disappear for a week and leave the men and...
in Hardisty from June 2 to June 9, 2007. It aired on CBC
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...
in Canada for eight consecutive weeks starting January 21, 2008.
The show explored what happens when all the women in an ordinary Canadian town disappear for a week and leave the men and children to cope on their own.
See also
- List of communities in Alberta
- List of towns in Alberta
- Hardisty AirportHardisty AirportHardisty Airport, , is located southwest of Hardisty, Alberta, Canada.-External links:**...
External links
- Town of Hardisty (Official Website)
- Community Profile