OLDEST - Legion in Alberta - Coleman, AB
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T0SHEA
N 49° 38.043 W 114° 30.058
11U E 680444 N 5500943
Chartered on October 6, 1926, Coleman Royal Canadian Legion Branch #9 was the first Legion to be chartered in Alberta.
Waymark Code: WMPCJT
Location: Alberta, Canada
Date Posted: 08/09/2015
Views: 1
If you're wondering why the first Legion in Alberta should be
Branch Number Nine (see photo below), there is a very good reason for this. When chartered, on October 6, 1926, the branch was offered the number
ONE, but
declined it in favor of
NINE to honor the nine charter members.
To the east of the building is a memorial park which contains the Coleman Legion Cenotaph.
Coleman Legion
This brick building was constructed in 1923 by Stewart Milley as a store and warehouse. The Legion bought it in 1939 and built an extension to the west in 1986. The yard to the east once hosted some of Coleman's first commercial buildings - the Plante and Antel livery stable, and the Coleman Cartage Co.
Canada's oldest Legions evolved from other organizations. In the midst of World War One, Crowsnest Pass citizens formed a Returned Veterans Bureau, and veterans then formed chapters of the Great War Veterans Association. The Canadian Legion of the British Empire Service League was incorporated in July 1926, and Coleman Branch #9 was chartered on October 6, 1926, the first in Alberta.
Learn more about Crowsnest Heritage