"What's in an Edmonton name?" the VARSCONA edition. The River Coe drains a beautifully rugged valley in the Scottish Highlands. The Gaelic word for a deep, narrow valley is the origin of the English word "glen" so the community that was established at the mouth of the Coe became known as Glen Coe, or Glencoe.

Today is the 100th anniversary of one of the most remarkable buildings in Canada: the Cardston Alberta Temple. To learn more about the architectural and religious significance of this National Historic Site, read on. 🧵 #cdnhistory #abhistory #architecturalhistory #LDSHistory Spiritual traditions throughout time have established sacred sites: hills, cathedrals, groves, temples, shrines, etc. For the believer, there is something special about a place to leave behind the ordinary world temporarily to commune with the divine.

Great example of rural sustainability: Glen Park Hall in @LeducCounty celebrated its 90th anniversary this week. The hall is located 47 km southwest of downtown Edmonton on Township Road 490, commonly known as the Glen Park Road. It is surrounded by good farmland and is outside Edmonton's commuter shed.

The lesbian designer of one of Edmonton's most prestigious neighbourhoods -- and her threatened architecture. #yegplan #yeghistory #yegpride Jean Wallbridge was born in Edmonton in 1912 to an affluent lawyer and his wife. Jean was educated at private schools, in Europe & @VictoriaArts. It's safe to assume that she was one of the few young Edmontonians presented at the royal court in London during the Depression.

Amazing example of building reuse in Edmonton: La Bosco Bakery & Cafe at 10413 79 Avenue NW. labosco.ca It was originally built in 1953 as a storage garage for Manbro Ltd (was there ever a more testosterone-laden business name?), part of the Manning Lumber companies owned by Percy Manning. At the time Manning Lumber was located between 79 & 80 Aves where the Brooks NOFRILLS now is.

Promising news for the Koermann Block on 96 Street: City Council has agreed to sell the site for below market value for affordable housing on the condition that the building is protected as a Municipal Historic Resource. #yegheritage globalnews.ca/news/9520645/e… Many people are know that Strathcona had a significant German community 100+ yrs ago because aspects of it (e.g. Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, K&K Foodliner) still exist, but downtown Edmonton had one too. Here's a map of German families prior to 1914. sites.ualberta.ca/~german/Albert…

Tim's tweet prompted me to look into the history of a building on 109 Street I've always wondered about. Why *does* it look like a ruin? #yegheritage #yeghistory

https://twitter.com/timquerengesser/status/1618395039356563456

The building appears to have been built in 1911 by the Canadian Locomobile Co. Ltd. Just a few years after the first car arrived in Edmonton in 1904, Canadian Locomobile was selling Hupmobiles & Pathfinders in a crowded auto sales market.

Beautifully-maintained house in Viewpoint. Built in 1916 by Arthur and Annie Foley. The Foleys, originally from Bowmanville, Ontario, moved to Edmonton in 1906-07 when Arthur became Alberta's first poultry superintendent.

https://twitter.com/everylotYEG/status/1610652283259297796

At a time before the petrochemical industry, agriculture was the big economic deal in the province, and Arthur was mentioned hundreds of times in Alberta newspapers.

The church at 10665 98 Street NW that burned down yesterday connected a fascinating number of Edmonton's religious denominations and cultures. St. Andrew's Anglican Church was built in 1910 south of Jasper Ave along Alex Taylor Road, where the Valley Vista Apartments are now located. The "little church on the hill" served Anglicans in the Boyle Street neighbourhood. @DioEdm

There's a 120 year old house in Mill Woods?! Yes, there is. It's the Place place, and it's up for sale. #yeghistory #yegheritage realtor.ca/real-estate/25… William Place was born in Ogdensburg, NY in 1843. After marrying Lucretia Hill of Morrisburg, ON, the couple moved to Edmonton, where Lucretia's brother lived. In 1902 they bought a farm south of town and promptly replaced its log house with the frame house still standing today.

Century Park timeline
2022: a couple of early risers walking their dogs in a grassy area surrounded by apartments, construction materials & equipment and an empty parking lot next to an LRT station just out of view. 2005: architect James Cheng's concept for a walkable, mixed-use, high-density, transit-oriented urban village that wowed planners and helped #yegcc decide to fund extension of the LRT to the site.

Thanks for asking! The history of Alexander Circle is more interesting than I imagined.

https://twitter.com/godofgrind/status/1580291102623821824

The circle was part of the original design of the 1911 Glenora subdivision, planned as a focal amenity at the intersection of 33 (later 133) Street & Peace Avenue in an area where the other avenues (Athabasca, Mackenzie) were also named after rivers.

What a ring road has to do with the papal visit. The Oliver neighbourhood has been a focus for Roman Catholics in Edmonton for 140 years. In addition to Saint-Joachim Church and St. Joseph's Basilica, there's the Archbishop's Palace and the General Hospital, which was founded and run by the Grey Nuns.

How the @UAlberta's Cameron Library became a two-skinned building. Cameron Library, opened in 1964 and named after former University Librarian Donald Cameron, was designed to be expanded after its bracketing North and South Labs, shown in this 1965 air photo, were demolished.

The Tawatinâ Bridge artwork by @GarneauDavid is a dazzling fusion of contemporary and historical Indigenous themes and perspectives. The map-related pieces particularly caught my planning historian eye so here’s a thread about them. The pixelated bison is a map connecting Edmonton with St. Paul. Each pixel is a surveyor’s township. The blue line is the North Saskatchewan and the red line is the former @CNRailway Coronado subdivision.

How an Edmonton neighbourhood didn't end up being called Grossdale, and got the city's dirtiest name instead. Before World War I there was a real estate boom in Edmonton. Land owners and investors were bringing dozens of speculative subdivisions to market. One on the south side of the river was Grossdale.

POTENTIAL RING HOUSE SOLUTION. Most of us love heritage buildings. Few of us own them. It's easy to love and want to preserve things that someone else is paying for. Right now @UAlberta is facing severe financial challenges due to factors that include... cbc.ca/news/canada/ed… provincial funding cuts. Under these circumstances, with its mission to provide outstanding higher education, it would be irresponsible of the university to plow $4 million into deferred maintenance on the homes that could otherwise improve teaching and research.

The fascinating irony at ground zero of zoning history. #planninghistory After the U.S. Civil War, Cleveland, Ohio boomed industrially. Euclid Avenue was the pinnacle of the city's wealth, with a portion of it known as Millionaires' Row. John D. Rockefeller lived along it for years until he decamped to New York. This is another Euclid Avenue home.