1876:
a telegraph station is built. It's the western end of a line that
ran all the way from Winnipeg. Mr.
McKinley built it, and said that he would name it after the first person
who walked into the station. The first person who walked in was a
French priest, Father Hippolyte Leduc.
1889:
Robert Taylor Telford homesteaded
on land beside what was called Leduc Lake. This lake is now called
Telford Lake. Mr. Telford had been a member of the North
West Mounted Police (the Mounties). He built a "stopping house" for
people travelling between Edmonton and Calgary--Leduc was one day's travel
from Edmonton.
1891:
The Canadian Pacific Railway builds a railroad from Calgary to Strathcona.
1892:
Leduc's first hardware store opens.
1899:
Leduc becomes a village.
1899:
By this year, Robert Telford has become Leduc’s first postmaster, first
hotel owner, first general store merchant, and first justice of the peace
(a judge). Later, he became Leduc’s MLA (Member of the Legislative
Assembly) for eight years.
1905:
Alberta becomes a province. Robert Telford is elected as the first
Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) from Leduc.
1906:
Leduc becomes a town. The first mayor is Clarence Gaetz.
1907:
Leduc gets its first telephone exchange.
Leduc
has its first fire: a grist mill burned down.
Mayor
Gaetz names Leduc’s first park Alexandra Park after Queen Alexandra, the
wife of King Edward VII.
1911:
Leduc gets its first library.
1911:
Leduc’s school burns down.
More
about Leduc in 1911
1912:
Leduc gets its first "moving pictures" in Telford Hall.
1912: King George School
opens.
1914:
Leduc votes to install electric lights and cement sidewalks.
1914: First World War
begins.
1915:
Leduc votes to close its bars and liquor stores.
1917:
Leduc Curling Club is organized; the rink in Alexandra Park is started
1918:
Father Leduc, vicar general of the archdiocese of Edmonton, dies in Edmonton
at the age of 76.
1918:
World War I ends.
1921:
Leduc gets electric street lights.
1923:
Leduc's first grain elevator is destroyed by fire.
1926:
The new highway between Edmonton and Leduc is gravelled.
1929:
Council makes a new by-law (a by-law is a city’s or town’s law): Horses,
cattle, sheep, and poultry are not allowed to run at large in Leduc.
1933:
Robert Telford dies, age 73.
1934:
RCMP arrest 15 people in Edmonton and area in a drug bust. Dr.Woods
of Leduc is arrested for issuing 492 prescriptions for narcotic drugs in
the past year.
1938:
Edmonton/Calgary highway is paved.
1939:
300 students and their teachers travel by train to Edmonton to see King
George and Queen Elizabeth (Queen Elizabeth is now the Queen Mother)
1939: World War II begins.
1940:
The Waldorf Hotel burns down.
1944:
Three municipal districts are merged into one. Black Mud, Liberty,
and Pioneer, all become the new municipal district of Leduc #489.
1944:
A U.S. Army Airforce plane crashes in the Gaetz farm near Leduc.
The two crewmembers parachuted to safety & received minor injuries.
1945:
Leduc’s population is almost 1000.
1945:
World War II ends.
1947:
Imperial Oil drilled the oil well known as Leduc
#1 in the county of Leduc. This starts Alberta’s oil boom.
In a few months, Leduc’s population grows three times.
The
toolpush for Leduc #1 is Vern Hunter; the well is on Mike Turta’s farm.
Today, the Leduc #1 interpretive centre is on the site.
1947:
People of Leduc vote to have sewer and water. Before that, people
had their own wells, and either had outhouses or their own septic systems.
1948:
An oil company known as Atlantic drilled Atlantic #3 in the Leduc oilfield.
It ran wild, bursting into flame, destroying 1,250,000 barrels of oil.
1950:
Natural gas lines are built in Leduc.
1950:
The Leduc Hotel is destroyed by an explosion. 10 people died.
1952:
A new covered skating rink is built.
1955:
Main Street is paved.
Leduc
gets a new firehall.
1957:
People in Leduc can dial their own telephone numbers instead of having
to ask an operator to make the connections for them.
1960:
The International Airport is officially opened.
1961:
Leduc Golf & Country Club opens its 9-hole golf course.ty
1962:
Leduc gets a new hospital.
1964:
Edmonton International Airport's new terminal is oficially opened.
1964:
The Minicipal District of Leduc becomes the County of Leduc.
1969:
Town council passes a by-law: Domestic animals and poultry may not be
kept in the town of Leduc.
1970’s:
Leduc grows very quickly as many people who work in Edmonton come to live
in Leduc
1972:
RCMP take over policing in Leduc. The town police force is dismissed.
1974:
After 26 years, Imperial Oil stops pumping oil from Leduc #1.
1976:
Cable TV comes to Leduc.
1978:
Leduc Roman Catholic School District #132 is formed.
1979:
Black Gold Centre opens, with its indoor ice arena and swimming pool.
1980:
Leduc gets its own Court House.
The
Alberta Government announces that it will open the new food processing
research centre in Leduc.
1983:
Leduc becomes Alberta’s 13th city. Its population is 12,700.
1985:
The Performing Arts Centre (PAC) opens at Leduc Composite High School.
1986:
Leduc's water tower is taken down.
1986:
Leduc Civic Centre is built in Alexandra Park.
1986:
Leduc General Hospital has a four-story expansion built.
1989:
The County of Leduc moves its offices from the city of Leduc to Nisku.
1997:
For the 50th anniversary of Leduc #1, an Oilfields Interpretive Centre
is built on the site of the first strike, just south of Devon.
Click here to see a list of the mayors of Leduc.
Click here to read a few Leduc biographies.
Click here to read an interview with a pioneer couple.
Click here to see how Leduc has grown, and how prices have changed.
Click
here to return to Corinthia Park School home page.
The quilt (shown in the photo) was donated to the City of Leduc by the Black Gold Quilt Patch, 1999, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Leduc becoming a village.
email: mlyall@blackgold.ab.ca