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Communities

History

In 1901, the Alberta Railway and Coal Company had title to the land now known as the townsite of Diamond City.  The mine officials in the new village applied to have it named Black Diamond after the coal seams that were found by the Diamond Coal Company, but another town in Alberta had already applied for the name, so officials named the village Diamond City.  Homesteaders settled on quarter sections of land and if they improved it and lived on it for a year, it was theirs.

Each year more and more prairie was cultivated, the biggest land breaking taking place in 1923.  Having the promise of good crops because of the irrigation systems, many new settlers purchased land.  Schools and churches were built and the community blossomed.  Over the years the mine began to dwindle and the town of nearly 800 people began to diminish.  The town status was changed to a hamlet. 

Present

A total of 184 live in Diamond City (2016 Statistics Canada) and is approximately 13km north of Lethbridge.

Fairview is located on the eastern boundary of the City of Lethbridge. In the 2016 Census, Fairview had a population of 154.

Iron SpringsThe people in and around the little community of Iron Springs comprise mostly of Dutch immigrants who came to the area just after World War II.

With the immigration to the area by these Christian Reformed settlers, the countryside took on a whole new appearance.  Dairies, chicken and pork producers, feed cattle operations blossomed all over the prairie and down into the coulees of the Little Bow River.

Kipp is a locality, located approximately 29 kilometres northwest of Lethbridge between Highway 3 and a Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) line.  Kipp originally began as a trading post called Fort Kipp. Although not at the same location as the fort, Kipp takes its name from Fort Kipp.  The original Macleod Trail which came to be known as the Red Trail, and later as Highway 3 went through Kipp.  It was first graded in 1918 and graveled in 1928.

Once the road came to the community, population dwindled and today it has only a spattering of residents, but still has one of the largest rail yards in Southern Alberta.

MonarchBy 1910, Monarch was a thriving hamlet with a branch of the Canadian Bank of Commerce, a one room school, two hardware stores and with all passenger and mail trains stopping there.  A brickyard which produced varying qualities of clay bricks kept the community going for a short time.

Highway 3 used to go through Monarch but now bypasses the community completely and over the years population and industry have declined with people moving to larger areas.  There are 227 people (2016 Statistics Canada) who reside in this community that is 23km northwest of Lethbridge.

Readymade Community CentreReadymade Community CentrePioneers came to the Readymade, Tempest and Chin districts as early as 1912, settling on the prairies.

Though farms are scattered over the now prosperous area, these three areas are still important agriculture centres.  Businesses such as hay plants, trucking trailer companies, sod farms, potato processing manufacturing and others have sprung up along Highway 3 making the area one of the most productive in Southern Alberta.  The area of Readymade is home to the Readymade Community Centre, where people from the area gather for events and celebrations.

Shaughnessy Community CentreShaughnessy is a hamlet located approximately 17 kilometres north of Lethbridge. It is named after Baron Shaughnessy, chairman of the mining company that ran the town. The population of Shaughnessy is 415 (2016 Statistics Canada).

The Turin community, located northeast of the City of Lethbridge, got its name from a stallion imported from Turin, Italy.

Most businesses in the Turin area are privately owned and run from local homes and farms.  Farming consists of specialized crops on irrigated lands including sugar beets, corn and potatoes.

There is dry land wheat farming and irrigated forage crops, ranching, and chicken, cattle, dairy and pork operations.

Some farmers have diversified into raising llamas and alpacas, boar meat goats and the odd buffalo.

It is a lush farming area with numerous agricultural opportunities.

Wilson Siding was named after E.H. Wilson of the Alberta Railway and Irrigation Company in 1908 when a train stop was built on the CPR line.

As trains were run by steam they had to often to take on water, and Wilson Siding, 13km south east of Lethbridge, was one such stop.

The Hutterite colonies have added to the success of the Wilson Siding history having arrived in the area in June 1918 with 45 people and 7 carloads of goods and livestock.  Since then colonies have expanded throughout the area.

The Alberta Wheat Pool was formed in 1923 and quickly a Pool elevator was built at Wilson.  Today the Alberta Wheat Pool is the only elevator that remains, and it is a large automated grain terminal.