Эдсон қаласы: тарих, экономика және географиясы

Town in Canadian Province of Alberta

Edson is a town in west central Alberta, Canada. It is located in Yellowhead County, west of Edmonton along the Yellowhead Highway and east of the intersection with Highway 47.

The town was founded as Heatherwood, but the name was changed around 1911 in honour of Edson Joseph Chamberlin, vice president of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway. When Edson was declared the local rail centre, smaller communities such as Rosevear (abandoned), Wolf Creek, Carrot Creek and Niton Junction fell into a decline that continues today. In the 1950s, upgrading of Highway 16 caused a dramatic increase in private, commercial and industrial traffic. Today, the Yellowhead Highway carries some of the heaviest traffic flow in Alberta and has been declared the second Trans Canada Highway. In the 1970s, a revitalized coal industry launched the Cardinal River Coal and Luscar Sterco mines in the area. In the 1980s Pelican Spruce Mills (now Weyerhaeuser Company Limited) and Sundance Forest Industries (now Edson Forest Products a division of West Fraser Mills Ltd.) became two of Edson's major employers. The former hamlets of Glenwood and Grande Prairie Trail were annexed from Yellowhead County by the Town of Edson on 1 January 1984. In 2023, Edson was evacuated due to wildfires, a few weeks later, Edson declared another state of emergency due to floods.

The main industries that drive the local economy are resource based – coal, oil, natural gas and forestry products.

Edson was home to Canada's largest slo pitch tournament until 2017.

The Galloway Station Museum, established in 1981, explores the history of Edson and the surrounding area. It contains an original Canadian Northern Railway station used by several communities around Edson as well as large modern gallery spaces, an archives and public events space. The museum is located in RCMP Centennial Park, a large park at the centre of town created in 1974 to honour the 100th anniversary of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in Alberta. The park, run by the Town of Edson, also contains an event pavilion, a Canadian National Railway caboose, a preserved RCAF Lockheed T 33 Silver Star aircraft, and giant squirrel statue that depicts the town's mascot, "Eddie the Squirrel".

Edson is connected to the Yellowhead Highway from east to west and to Coal Valley via Highway 47 to the south. Via Rail's The Canadian calls at the Edson railway station three times per week in each direction as a flag stop.

On 15 October 2019, the town was granted a coat of arms by the Canadian Heraldic Authority, while the announcement of the Letters Patent was made on 28 March 2020, in Volume 154, page 692 of the Canada Gazette.