Beiseker, Alberta

Beiseker is a village in the province of Alberta, Canada. It is approximately 70 kilometres (40 miles) north-east of Calgary. It is considered to be an outermost part of Greater Calgary and is included within Calgary's Census Metropolitan Area (CMA). The village is surrounded by the Municipal District of Rocky View #44, and the closest neighbouring settlement is the town of Irricana.

The population in 2005 was 828.

[edit] History and Town Founding

Lying in a belt of rich black soil, Beiseker was developed as an agricultural service centre. It was founded by the Calgary Colonization Company whose purpose was to promote settlement by demonstrating the grain growing potential of the area. The Village name comes from Thomas Beiseker, one of the partners of the Company. Initial colonization took place in 1908 when the company recruited a number of ethnic German settlers from the Great Plains of the Dakotas. This is reflected in the number of German family names which predominate the area.

The Village began to grow in 1910 when the branch line of the CPR was completed. The CNR line was constructed in 1912 to the east of the Central Business district. With the construction and intersection of Highways 9, 72 and 806 at the northeast edge of the Village, Beiseker came to have a very favourable location in terms of road and rail access. Since it is located almost equidistant from Calgary and Drumheller, Beiseker began to emerge as a local service and trade centre for the surrounding rural agricultural area. Village status was achieved in 1921.

The surrounding area's great potential for grain-growing is shown by Beiseker's status as "World Wheat King Capital", or as a top producing area of wheat.

[edit] Recent History and Local Industry

Beiseker currently serves as a centre for local agricultural services including fertilizer, seed cleaning, and soil testing. There is also a local UFA outlet serving farmers in the area. Local industries also serve the oilpatch, and there are many sites extracting natural gas in the immediate area surrounding Beiseker, as well as several major pipelines.

The Canadian office of Lampson International, a large international company specializing in construction cranes, is based in Beiseker. There is also a biomedical incinerator based in Beiseker, which handles waste from hospitals in the Province and abroad.

Beiseker also has a number of small businesses on its main street offering a variety of services, including a local credit union, grocery store, pharmacist and hair dressers, as well as several small restaurants. As Beiseker is at the intersection of several major Provincial highways, it is a popular stop for campers and other travellers coming to and from Saskatoon and Drumheller. There is also a small airport which serves the community, located a few miles east of town.

Beiseker has also grown in recent years with people moving away from the city of Calgary, and are attracted by the lower housing prices in the village and the "small town" atmosphere offered by the community.

[edit] External links

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