Maybutt, Alberta
Encyclopedia
Maybutt also known as “New Stirling” or "New Town" is a former locality
Locality
Locality may refer to:* Locality, a.k.a. human settlement* Locality of reference in computer-science data-access issue* Locality * Locality * Locality, physics concept re principle of locality* Locality in astronomy...
in Warner County
Warner County No. 5, Alberta
The County of Warner No. 5 is a municipal district in southern Alberta, Canada.It is located in Census Division 2, just north of the United States border. Warner was organised as a rural municipality since 1912, and established in the actual borders since 1954. The seat of the municipality is...
, 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. The unincorporated community is situated 1 km north of the old town of Stirling
Stirling, Alberta
Stirling is a village in the County of Warner No. 5, Alberta, Canada. The village is located on Highway 4, approximately southeast of Lethbridge and northwest of the United States-Canada border....
just off the CANAMEX Corridor
CANAMEX Corridor
The CANAMEX corridor is a corridor linking Canada to Mexico through the United States. The corridor was established under the North American Free Trade Agreement.Currently the corridor is defined by a series of highways...
between Lethbridge
Lethbridge
Lethbridge is a city in the province of Alberta, Canada, and the largest city in southern Alberta. It is Alberta's fourth-largest city by population after Calgary, Edmonton and Red Deer, and the third-largest by area after Calgary and Edmonton. The nearby Canadian Rockies contribute to the city's...
and the United States-Canada border. Although the settlement once boasted many businesses with a population of 250 residents, it never made village
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...
status, because the community never grew to the three hundred residents it needed to become a village.
History
Stirling, Alberta
Stirling is a village in the County of Warner No. 5, Alberta, Canada. The village is located on Highway 4, approximately southeast of Lethbridge and northwest of the United States-Canada border....
south of present day Maybutt. The town very quickly began to boom.
In 1909-1910 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...
(C.P.R.) had the intentions to buy up the Alberta Coal and Railway Co.
North Western Coal and Navigation Company
The North Western Coal and Navigation Company also known as Alberta Coal and Railway Company, was a coal mining company formed in 1882 by Sir Alexander Tilloch Galt, one of Canada's Fathers of Confederation...
line that ran diagonally from Lethbridge
Lethbridge
Lethbridge is a city in the province of Alberta, Canada, and the largest city in southern Alberta. It is Alberta's fourth-largest city by population after Calgary, Edmonton and Red Deer, and the third-largest by area after Calgary and Edmonton. The nearby Canadian Rockies contribute to the city's...
to Stirling then Great Falls, Montana
Great Falls, Montana
Great Falls is a city in and the county seat of Cascade County, Montana, United States. The population was 58,505 at the 2010 census. It is the principal city of the Great Falls, Montana Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Cascade County...
. Soon after C.P.R. needed extra space for a junction point
Junction Point
Junction Point may refer to:*NTFS junction point*Junction Point Studios...
for the construction of the Stirling-Weyburn
Weyburn, Saskatchewan
Weyburn is a city in southeastern Saskatchewan, Canada. It is located on the Souris River southeast of the provincial capital of Regina and is north of the border with the United States. The name is reputedly a corruption of the Scottish "wee burn," referring to a small creek. The city is...
branch line
Branch line
A branch line is a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a main line. A very short branch line may be called a spur line...
, with speculation of Canadian National Railway
Canadian National Railway
The Canadian National Railway Company is a Canadian Class I railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec. CN's slogan is "North America's Railroad"....
bringing a branch line from Fort Macleod
Fort Macleod, Alberta
Fort Macleod is a town in the southwest corner of the province of Alberta, Canada. It was founded as a North-West Mounted Police barracks, and is named in honour of the North-West Mounted Police Colonel James Macleod. The town's current mayor is Shawn Patience.- History and heritage preservation...
to Stirling.
This junction lied on Mr. William Fisher's land, a real estate
Real estate
In general use, esp. North American, 'real estate' is taken to mean "Property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals, or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this; an item of real property; buildings or...
promoter and newcomer to Alberta. Mr. Fisher took advantage of this and began planning out his new town, New Stirling. The location was an ideal spot for a new town to be placed. Mr. Fisher had printed many posters to send out east
Eastern Canada
Eastern Canada is generally considered to be the region of Canada east of Manitoba, consisting of the following provinces:* New Brunswick* Newfoundland and Labrador* Nova Scotia* Ontario* Prince Edward Island* Quebec...
to promote New Stirling. Some of his posters stated "Watch us Grow to 5,000 in 1913"; others were far-fetched, as he put a photo of a yacht on the tree-covered shores of Stirling Lake
Stirling Lake
Stirling Lake is a small lake located about 1 km north of Stirling in Alberta, Canada. The lake is known for its wide variety of bird species, and is also referred to as the "Michelsen Marsh"....
north of town, which at the time had not a tree for miles. Mr. Fisher had the idea to build a large hotel and construction of the Prairie Queen Hotel
Prairie Queen Hotel
In 1909-1910, a real estate promoter, William Fisher came to Alberta and bought land north of the village of Stirling, Alberta. Soon after the Canadian Pacific Railway had plans to lay tracks through Fisher's land creating a junction making it an ideal spot for a large townsite. Mr. Fisher planded...
began. It was an elaborate three storey brick veneered
Masonry Veneer
Masonry veneer walls consist of a single non-structural external layer of masonry work, typically brick, backed by an air space. The innermost element is usually structural, and may consist of wood or metal framing or masonry...
hotel with all the modern conveniences of the time such as steam heat, electric lights, and even a bar room that was never used as such. Upon completion the Prairie Queen was stated to be the largest hotel ever built in a new town west of Winnipeg
Winnipeg
Winnipeg is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada, and is the primary municipality of the Winnipeg Capital Region, with more than half of Manitoba's population. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers .The name...
.
In 1912, due to confusion between Stirling and New Stirling’s names, New Stirling was changed to Maybutt, after Mr. William Fisher’s wife's maiden name "May Butt".
During the boom years 1910-1920 Maybutt had many of the amenities of a larger town. It had livery stables, a Union Bank of Canada
Bank of Canada
The Bank of Canada is Canada's central bank and "lender of last resort". The Bank was created by an Act of Parliament on July 3, 1934 as a privately owned corporation. In 1938, the Bank became a Crown corporation belonging to the Government of Canada...
branch, a two-storey boarding house
Boarding house
A boarding house, is a house in which lodgers rent one or more rooms for one or more nights, and sometimes for extended periods of weeks, months and years. The common parts of the house are maintained, and some services, such as laundry and cleaning, may be supplied. They normally provide "bed...
, two general stores, a dry business, a lumber yard, three grain elevator
Grain elevator
A grain elevator is a tower containing a bucket elevator, which scoops up, elevates, and then uses gravity to deposit grain in a silo or other storage facility...
s, a flour mill, a Presbyterian and late United Church, some C.P.R. section homes
Section house (railway)
A Railway Section House is a building or house like structure located near or next to a section of railroad used for housing railroad workers, or storing and maintenance of equipment for a section of railroad. A section house was used mainly from 1890s-1960s by the 1970s section houses were slowly...
for rail maintenance, an Apiary and Superior Honey Factory, a warehouse
Warehouse
A warehouse is a commercial building for storage of goods. Warehouses are used by manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers, transport businesses, customs, etc. They are usually large plain buildings in industrial areas of cities and towns. They usually have loading docks to load and unload...
, a Chinese laundry and restaurant, a newspaper (Stirling Star), a resident North-West Mounted Police, an International Harvest Machine Company
International Harvester
International Harvester Company was a United States agricultural machinery, construction equipment, vehicle, commercial truck, and household and commercial products manufacturer. In 1902, J.P...
and a large three-storey brick veneered hotel, boasted as the largest hotel ever built in a new town in Western Canada
Western Canada
Western Canada, also referred to as the Western provinces and commonly as the West, is a region of Canada that includes the four provinces west of the province of Ontario.- Provinces :...
.
Dust Bowl
The Dust Bowl, or the Dirty Thirties, was a period of severe dust storms causing major ecological and agricultural damage to American and Canadian prairie lands from 1930 to 1936...
era of the 1930s hit Maybut pretty hard. Residents left Maybutt and Stirling in hopes to find greener pastures somewhere else, due to poor crop yields, droughts, and falling grain prices. Stirling’s population had dipped from about 600 residents to as low as 366 in 1926, while Maybutt's peak population, 250 never grew to the 300 people needed to incorporate as a village
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...
under Alberta's Municipal affairs
Alberta Municipal Affairs
Alberta Municipal Affairs is a ministry of the Executive Council of Alberta. Its major responsibilities include assisting municipalities in the provision of local government, administering a safety system for the construction and maintenance of buildings and equipment, and managing Alberta's...
, citizens of Maybutt slowly started to pack up and leave sometimes taking their homes and stores with them, leaving just a handful of hardy citizens remaining.
Today due to Maybutt's proximity to the city of Lethbridge
Lethbridge
Lethbridge is a city in the province of Alberta, Canada, and the largest city in southern Alberta. It is Alberta's fourth-largest city by population after Calgary, Edmonton and Red Deer, and the third-largest by area after Calgary and Edmonton. The nearby Canadian Rockies contribute to the city's...
people have begun to move homes from around the area to Maybutt, nearly doubling Maybutt's population to approximately 12 people. Although not the same as in its heyday even with newer construction, Maybutt continues to die more and more and is slowly being replaced with new development. The only original buildings that remains are three pioneer houses, a grain elevator and vacant outbuildings.
Education
Maybutt's first classes were held in 1910 in the Presbyterian Church and was "one-room" where all grades were taught. A few years after classes were then moved to the former Chinese restaurant for about one year then moved to the Prairie Queen Hotel in the former Union BankBank of Canada
The Bank of Canada is Canada's central bank and "lender of last resort". The Bank was created by an Act of Parliament on July 3, 1934 as a privately owned corporation. In 1938, the Bank became a Crown corporation belonging to the Government of Canada...
room. In the 1920s plans were drawn up for a new school site within the town, but due to dwindling attendants the plans never came through and in 1924 students were transferred to the Stirling School
Stirling School
Stirling School, is a public school that covers kindergarten through high school located in Stirling, Alberta, Canada in the Westwind School Division No. 74.- History :- Athletics :...
.
Attractions
Local attractionsGalt Historic Railway Park:
The Galt Historic Railway Park
Galt Historic Railway Park
The Galt Historic Railway Park, collects, preserves, restores, exhibits and interprets artifacts which represent the history and social impact of the "steam" era in southern Alberta and the coal era with emphasis on Galt Railway and the 1890 International Train Station Depot North West Territories...
located 1 km north of Stirling
Stirling, Alberta
Stirling is a village in the County of Warner No. 5, Alberta, Canada. The village is located on Highway 4, approximately southeast of Lethbridge and northwest of the United States-Canada border....
is another popular museum which displays of life and travel in the 1880s to 1920s are set up in the restored 1890 North-West Territories International Train Station from Coutts, Alberta
Coutts, Alberta
Coutts is a village in Alberta and the location of one of the busiest Canada – US border crossings in western Canada. It connects Highway 4 to Interstate 15, an important trade route between Alberta, American states along I-15, and Mexico.In 2004, a joint border facility opened in Coutts-Sweet...
, 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...
, and Sweetgrass, Montana
Sweetgrass, Montana
Sweet Grass is an unincorporated community in Toole County, Montana, United States, on the Canada-US border. It is the northern terminus of Interstate 15, an important route connecting western Canada, the western United States, and Mexico.In 2004, a joint border facility opened at the Sweetgrass...
, USA. The station was moved to the current location near Stirling in 2000 and is added onto every year. Future plans to move the 1925 Oglvie grain elevator from Wrentham
Wrentham, Alberta
Wrentham is a hamlet in southern Alberta, Canada within the County of Warner No. 5. It is located southeast of the intersection of the Veteran Memorial Highway and the historic Red Coat Trail , approximately east of the Village of Stirling, south of the Town of Taber and west of the Village of...
for display along the station in the 36 acres (145,687 m²) park is still in the planning stages.
Stirling Agricultural Village:
Stirling Agricultural Village
Stirling Agricultural Village
Stirling Agricultural Village is a National Historic Site of Canada, and was listed as one of only three communities in Canada designated as a National Historic Site because of the community’s well preserved settlement pattern that follows the Plat of Zion model...
is a National Historic Site of Canada, and was listed as one of only three communities in 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...
designated as a National Historic Site because of the community’s well preserved settlement pattern that follows the Plat of Zion model. Located within the village are two museums the Michelsen Farmstead
Michelsen Farmstead
The Andreas Michelsen Farmstead, originally built in 1902 by Andreas himself as a two room house. In 1912 the house was added onto, to make 7 rooms in total, little has changed since...
a totally restored 1900s home showcasing rual life in Alberta in the 1930s. Listed as a Provincial Historic Site in 2001., and the Galt Historic Railway Park.
Regional attractions
Devil's Coulee Dinosaur Heritage Museum:
The Devil's Coulee Dinosaur Heritage Museum
Devil's Coulee Dinosaur Heritage Museum
Devil's Coulee Dinosaur Heritage Museum, located in Warner, Alberta, Canada, is a key historic site in southern Alberta. In 1997, ten fossilized dinosaur eggs, believed to have come from a Hadrosaur, specifically a Hypacrosaurus were found at Devil's Coulee site...
features a Hadrosaur (duck-billed dinosaur) nest and embryo, ancient fossils, dinosaur models, located in the Warner
Warner, Alberta
Warner is a village in southern Alberta, Canada. It is located in County of Warner, approximately 65 km south of the city of Lethbridge. Warner is a farming community. Warner is situated at the intersection of Highway 4 and Highway 36, about 38 km north of the Montana border and...
.
Warner elevator row:
The Warner elevator row
Warner elevator row
Warner elevator row is a row of historic wood-cribbed grain elevators with six elevators all standing in a row from south to north, alongside the Canadian Pacific Railway, that travels from Great Falls, Montana to Lethbridge, Alberta, on the east entrance of the village of Warner, Alberta, Canada...
is a row of historic wood-cribed grain elevators. A total of six elevators still stand in a row from south to north alongside 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...
on the east entrance of the village of Warner
Warner, Alberta
Warner is a village in southern Alberta, Canada. It is located in County of Warner, approximately 65 km south of the city of Lethbridge. Warner is a farming community. Warner is situated at the intersection of Highway 4 and Highway 36, about 38 km north of the Montana border and...
. Due to the loss of a vast amount of Alberta's many grain elevators, the elevator row in Warner remains the very last row of elevators in Alberta. Only two elevator rows remain in Canada, Warner's row and the elevators in Inglis, Manitoba
Inglis elevator row
Inglis elevator row is a row of five grain elevators standing in a row from south to north alongside the former Canadian Pacific Railway track bed, on the southeast edge of the village of Inglis, Manitoba, Canada. Because so many grain elevators have been demolished throughout Western Canada, only...
.
Waterton Lakes National Park
Waterton Lakes National Park
Waterton Lakes National Park
Waterton Lakes National Park is a national park located in the southwest corner of Alberta, Canada, and borders Glacier National Park in Montana, USA. Waterton was Canada's fourth national park, formed in 1895 and named after Waterton Lake, in turn after the Victorian naturalist and conservationist...
is a National Park located in the extreme southwest corner of Alberta, Canada, 40 km west of Cardston
Cardston, Alberta
-Demographics:The population of the Town of Cardston according to its 2007 municipal census is 3,578.In 2006, it had a population of 3,452 living in 1,234 dwellings, a 0.7% decrease from 2001...
, and borders Glacier National Park
Glacier National Park (Canada)
Glacier National Park is one of seven national parks in British Columbia, and is part of a system of 43 parks and park reserves across Canada. It protects a portion of the Columbia Mountains. It also contains the Rogers Pass National Historic Site, designated for its importance in the construction...
in Montana, USA. Waterton Lake
Waterton Lake
Waterton Lake is a mountain lake in southern Alberta, Canada and northern Montana, USA. The lake is composed of two bodies of water, connected by a shallow channel known locally as the Bosphorus. The two parts are referred to as Lower Wateron Lake, and Upper Waterton Lake, the latter of which is...
s was Canada's fourth National Park formed in 1895. The Rocky Mountains
Rocky Mountains
The Rocky Mountains are a major mountain range in western North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch more than from the northernmost part of British Columbia, in western Canada, to New Mexico, in the southwestern United States...
rise suddenly out of the rolling prairies in the park. Amid the peaks are the three Waterton Lake
Waterton Lake
Waterton Lake is a mountain lake in southern Alberta, Canada and northern Montana, USA. The lake is composed of two bodies of water, connected by a shallow channel known locally as the Bosphorus. The two parts are referred to as Lower Wateron Lake, and Upper Waterton Lake, the latter of which is...
s, carved out of the rock by ancient glacier
Glacier
A glacier is a large persistent body of ice that forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. At least 0.1 km² in area and 50 m thick, but often much larger, a glacier slowly deforms and flows due to stresses induced by its weight...
s.
Writing On Stone Provincial Park
Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park
Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park
Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park is located about 100 kilometres southeast of Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada or 44 kilometres east of the community of Milk River, and straddles the Milk River itself. It is one of the largest areas of protected prairie in the Alberta park system, and serves as both a...
, is one of the largest areas of protected prairie in the Alberta park system, and serves as both a nature preserve and protection for the largest concentration of rock art
Rock art
Rock art is a term used in archaeology for any human-made markings made on natural stone. They can be divided into:*Petroglyphs - carvings into stone surfaces*Pictographs - rock and cave paintings...
, created by Plains People. There are over 50 rock art sites, with thousands of figures, as well as numerous archeological sites.
Media
Maybutt has many different types of news papers such as Westwind Weekly, Lethbridge Herald, and Prairie Post. At one time, Maybutt once had a newspaper of its own called the Stirling Star. In the 1980s Stirling and Maybutt also hosted the cast of a film called "Pure Escape" starring James GarnerJames Garner
James Garner is an American film and television actor, one of the first Hollywood actors to excel in both media. He has starred in several television series spanning a career of more than five decades...
.
Newspapers
- Lethbridge HeraldLethbridge HeraldLethbridge Herald is the leading paper in the Lethbridge, Alberta area, with an average weekday circulation of 18,185 in the six-month period ending March 31, 2007. This local paper has been serving southern Alberta since 1905....
, the most read newspaper in LethbridgeLethbridgeLethbridge is a city in the province of Alberta, Canada, and the largest city in southern Alberta. It is Alberta's fourth-largest city by population after Calgary, Edmonton and Red Deer, and the third-largest by area after Calgary and Edmonton. The nearby Canadian Rockies contribute to the city's...
and Southern Alberta.
- Prairie Post, a news paper focused on Alberta and the southwest region of SaskatchewanSaskatchewanSaskatchewan 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....
.
- Stirling Star was Stirling's newspaper printed in New Stirling until the late 1930s.
- Westwind Weekly, a weekly newspaper featuring news from Stirling and surrounding communities.
Movies
- Pure Escape, movie shot throughout Southern Alberta and Stirling in the 1980s.
See also
- List of places with fewer than ten residents
- List of attractions and landmarks in Stirling
- List of communities in Alberta
- List of ghost towns in Alberta
- Stirling, AlbertaStirling, AlbertaStirling is a village in the County of Warner No. 5, Alberta, Canada. The village is located on Highway 4, approximately southeast of Lethbridge and northwest of the United States-Canada border....
- Prairie Queen HotelPrairie Queen HotelIn 1909-1910, a real estate promoter, William Fisher came to Alberta and bought land north of the village of Stirling, Alberta. Soon after the Canadian Pacific Railway had plans to lay tracks through Fisher's land creating a junction making it an ideal spot for a large townsite. Mr. Fisher planded...
External links
- OurRoots.ca - Maybutt: Stirling Its Story and People: 1899-1980 By Mary Pengilly Duncan