Hinton, Alberta
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Hinton (2000 population 9,961) is a town in western Alberta, Canada, about 70 km northeast of Jasper and about 300 km west of Alberta's capital city, Edmonton.
The town of Hinton was named for W.D. Hinton, Vice President and General Manager of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway. The community was officially recognized in 1928.
The exact location of the town of Hinton has changed ten times in its history, its sites scattered along a line some twelve kilometres in length. The original location was along Hardisty Creek, where an aboriginal tribe from the Jasper area had left members stricken with smallpox while the rest of the group travelled to Lac Ste. Anne to find medical aid for the smallpox epidemic which was ravaging Alberta's native population. The area was thus dubbed Cache Picote (Smallpox Camp) in 1870.
Jack Gregg established a trading post at Prairie Creek in 1888 to serve travelers along the Jasper trail. The creek is now known as Muskuta Creek after an incorrect interpretation of the Cree name by white settlers. The construction of the railroad saw the establishment of a construction camp at Prairie Creek in 1908. The Canadian Northern Railway also established a station called Bliss, 8 km from Prairie Creek, in 1914. In 1915, Dalehurst became the postal station for Hinton. Entrance, another important centre to Hinton, served as its communications centre. Entrance was so named due to its location at the entrance to Jasper National Park.
The Canadian Northern Railway became an aggregating force as settlements grew around the operations of this company. The company, however, abandoned its track in 1926.
The population of Hinton experienced a boom during the 1930s when American entrepreneur Frank Seabolt and two partners opened the Hinton coal mine in 1931. Shortly thereafter, a recession caused the population to dwindle to less than 100 people, but the town rebounded in 1955 with the opening of a pulp mill. The mill brought rapid construction to Hinton and to the neighbouring village of Drinnan and the two communities amalgamated in 1958 to form the present municipality of Hinton.
External links
- A History of Hinton, Alberta (http://www.hintonhistory.com/StoryofHinton/storyhinton.html)