GROUARD
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GROUARD |
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NAME: Grouard COUNTY: N/A ROADS: 4WD GRID: 2 CLIMATE: Mild summer,cold winter BEST TIME TO VISIT: Summer |
COMMENTS:
Northern Alberta REMAINS: A few current residents. |
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The village, named after Bishop Emile Grouard in 1909 who spent nearly
70 years in the north administering to Indians and Eskimos, owed its
beginning to the fur trade in the early 1800s. Grouard was a picturesque
town in those early days with its whitewashed log cabins of the Metis
and its Mounted Police barracks. The village had Anglican and Catholic
missions and an attractive hospital with white paint and red roof. It
was primarily a Metis town at the turn of the century. With its gregariousness
and love of music and dancing, a dance or party could be found almost
any night. By 1914, there were no less than 22 stores of various sizes
in Grouard plus several hotels and restaurants. It claimed a population
of 2000 and even had its own newspaper. The railway people choose to
bypass the town 12 miles to the south and the town’s future was
in doubt. Today, Grouard is a quit little village a dozen or so miles
north of the pavement of Highway 2 where the ghost town lover can spend
some time contemplating its colorful history on the north shore of Buffalo
Bay. H.B. Chenoweth |
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