History Grande Prairie

a view of downtown grande prairie, circa 1914

the edson trail edson grande prairie opened in 1911 means settlers reach grande prairie area. nothing more tract of clear cut bush , forest, , difficult route many settlers, during wet weather. because of this, large scale settlement came late compared other major farming regions further south in canada. grande prairie incorporated village province of alberta in 1914. not until arrival of railway in 1916 farmland expanded waves of settlers came peace region. drove grande prairie s population past 1,000 mark, allowing incorporate town on march 27, 1919. local recession in 1920s caused temporary depopulation of grande prairie. population rebounded afterwards 1930s, time population had reached 1,464. settlement continued unabated 1930s during dust bowl era because peace region able escape severe drought conditions plagued canadian prairies further south @ time.

the second world war saw , canadian military establish grande prairie part of northwest staging route construction of alaska highway dawson creek alaska. although dawson creek chosen major starting point of construction of alaska highway, grande prairie major stopover point military aircraft during war, , benefited economically this.

although grande prairie located in southern edge of peace country, competing towns of peace river , dawson creek title of important centre of commerce , agriculture in region until late 1950s, when population growth began outstrip these towns oil , natural gas exploration underway in peace region, since first major discovery of oil further south in leduc near edmonton in 1947 , construction of large pulp mill in 1970s.

the construction , paving of highway 43 (originally sections of highways 2, 34, , 43 bc border yellowhead highway west of edmonton) in 1956 cut down on travel time road significantly, further enhancing grande prairie s accessibility , economic status. town incorporated city in 1958. @ time, population approximately 7,600.

the opening of procter & gamble kraft pulp mill in 1972 , discovery of elmworth deep basin gas field spurred economic boom. grande prairie s population went on 12,000 in 1970s on 24,000 time oil boom went bust in 1981.

a tornado struck downtown area , east side of grande prairie on july 8, 2004. although tornado considered weak 1 (f0-f1 on fujita scale) , weather not severe @ time, still strong enough incur damage houses , flip vehicles over. there no casualties or fatalities.