Why on earth are they called that?
Every place name tells a story. Choose any bit of the province and just look at its place names--you can tell a great deal about the area. Grab your gazetteer and take an area in central Alberta, roughly encompassing Millet to Airdrie, and Rocky Mountain House to Donalda. This is an area of over 31,000 square km. that includes 441 places. What can you learn from this list of place names?
Two hundred and three of these names are the result of human habitation and represent about 46% of the total number of names in the area.
This percentage indicates that you're looking at a highly populated area. It isn't a desert, for there are lots of named rivers, lakes and creeks. Although there are a few prairies, the landscape isn't totally flat because there are coulees and hills. You guess that there is or was a great influence from the British Isles, and to a lesser degree from Scandinavia and Germanic countries--both in the prevalence of family names on features as well as place names from the old country. Other ethnic influences are present as well. There is also strong evidence of first nations people in the area.
From names such as Red Willow, Aspen Beach, Birch Lake, Spruceview and Blueberry Lake, you get the impression that this is not a tropical climate. Coalcamp Creek, Sawmill Hill, Highland Ranch and Whiskey Creek point to types of industry in the area. All of this information is derived from a simple list of names in your handy gazetteer.
Top 300 Names
Of Alberta's nearly 10,000 official place names, we have chosen about three hundred of the most prominent. We've included name origins of all current cities and towns, as well as select villages, hamlets and localities. Also included are geographical features, many of which you can find on a typical highway map of Alberta.
The information included in the origins, in many cases are abridged versions of what is found in the Alberta Geographical Names Inventory database or in the four-volume Place Names of Alberta series, or in digitized format at http://www.ourfutureourpast.ca/loc_hist/. Use title search Place Names of Alberta.
We hope you enjoy your tour through Alberta's place names. If you can't find the name you're looking for, please contact the Geographical Names Program of Alberta Culture and Community Spirit
The map grid used here is based on the National Topographic System of mapping.
