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Village of Forestburg History

How Forestburg Got Its Name

    Carl Farvolden, Secretary-Treasurer of Forestburg, writes in a letter in August, 1970: "One or two old timers say it was named after a Forestburg in South Dakota from which one old timer came in the late 1800's or early 1900's.  There is, apparently, a Forestburg in Ontario as well and there were a few people from Ontario in the early days.  However, it is difficult to say definitely.  Apparently when the C.N.R. came here in 1915 the post office was Duxbury and was situated about two and half miles south of the present village.  I suppose no one could feel right about calling the new village "Duxbury" so something else was dreamed up either by one of the old timers or some official of the C.N.R."

The Beginning

Near the turn from the 1800’s to the 1900’s settlers began to appear in the Forestburg District, and by the year 1919, Forestburg had been incorporated into a village. The land began to be taken up in order to create homesteads for the people.

            The Canadian Government sent out fliers to many other countries like Europe, U.S.A and also in Eastern Canada, with a promise of adventure, fortune, food and free land. Many returned back to there homes but our heritage as Forestburgers came from the brave hearts that stayed here and braved the wild.

The Township

            John Marchand an early settler had been on Dominion survey. The road allowances were completed around the turn of the century, but the initial township survey was done around 1903. The building of actual roads wasn’t a real concern until the use of cars became an everyday practice. As fences were constructed it became an accepted interruption to have to jump out of you wagon or carriage and open/ close gates. They used horse drawn graders to carry gravel and grade the roads.

  Farming

             Ranchers tried to stop the moving in of farmers for they enjoyed the unrestricted movement for their cattle mainly inhabited this area. They tried telling the farmers that the growing season was too short, but the rich fertile soil proved to be more overcoming than the ranchers warnings.

The settlement route before the railway extended east of Wetaskiwin, started at Wetaskiwin then went by Dried Meat Lake then through Heather Brae, next onto Spring Lake then down into Forestburg.

  Setting Up The Homestead

     The first and definitely one of the more important issues when first settling an area was shelter. There were two forms of housing that could be built with the supplies in the plains area. One they could build a sod shack or they could use what little lumber and logs they had to build a suitable shelter area.

            Next was water. Most homesteaders had there own wells. Wells that were 3 inches in diameter were drilled into the ground gave sufficient water for the homestead.

  Centers of Town Activity

     As more people entered the area it became harder to have all the supplies sent in from train, so two stores were set up in Pleasington and Hastings Coulee. Both areas had a store and also a post office.

            Around 1912 the first railway service was offered, and the first station was opened in the same year. The first track foreman was George Norman he lived inside the station until Mr.Cossey who was the first station agent, arrived.

            The trains provided services on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday going from Edmonton through Forestburg then too Alliance, it made the return trip on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.  

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(Much of this history was taken from Yesterday and Years Ago: A history of Forestburg and District.)