Athabasca Heritage Society
Athabasca Landing, 1913. Athabasca Archives, 00764.
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Athabasca Heritage Society was formed in 1998 to lobby and raise funds for the rehabilitation of the Athabasca River riverfront in the Town of Athabasca. The riverfront was a wasteland after years of industrial use and society members were able to purchase a plot of land from the Town of Athabasca which then anchored future development of parkland and recreational space.
Formerly Athabasca Landing, the significance of the riverfront is its location on the southern most bend of the Athabasca River as it flows north to Lake Athabasca. Athabasca Landing was the terminus of the HBC freight trail from Fort Edmonton and a hub for the fur trade in the vast northwest Canada transportation system. Scows and paddle-wheel steamers plied the river in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries until the Canadian Northern Railway arrived in 1912. Town planners had hoped that the railway would fan northeast and northwest from Athabasca, to Fort McMurray and the Peace Country, but it became a terminus instead and Athabasca's importance as a transportation centre disappeared. Over time, the town has evolved to become a service centre for agriculture, forest industries, energy, education, and recreation.
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Formerly Athabasca Landing, the significance of the riverfront is its location on the southern most bend of the Athabasca River as it flows north to Lake Athabasca. Athabasca Landing was the terminus of the HBC freight trail from Fort Edmonton and a hub for the fur trade in the vast northwest Canada transportation system. Scows and paddle-wheel steamers plied the river in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries until the Canadian Northern Railway arrived in 1912. Town planners had hoped that the railway would fan northeast and northwest from Athabasca, to Fort McMurray and the Peace Country, but it became a terminus instead and Athabasca's importance as a transportation centre disappeared. Over time, the town has evolved to become a service centre for agriculture, forest industries, energy, education, and recreation.
Publications
Contact Us
© Athabasca Heritage Society. Athabasca Archives photographs are used with permission.