Along Highway 62 at the south end of the town of Magrath, named for
Charles Alexander Magrath, one of the principles in the Galt Canal project, is a large park, J.A. Spencer Memorial Irrigation Park, dedicated to another notable Magrath resident, historian
John Arthur Spencer. In the park just feet from a stretch of the original Galt Canal is a plaque mounted alongside a pathway which meanders through the park. The plaque, placed by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, reveals a bit of the story of the beginnings of the town of Magrath and of the contribution of members of the LDS Church in both the creation of the town and the Galt Canal.
Following is the text from the plaque.
Magrath, Alberta
Magrath is one of two settlements whose origins are tied to the construction of the Galt Canal. In 1898 the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints entered into a contract with the Alberta Irrigation Company, which called for the Church to provide labor to construct the Galt Canal and to develop two villages of 250 persons each.
After the contract was signed, Charles 0. Card, founder of Cardston, Alberta, travelled throughout Utah encouraging Latter-day Saints to move to Southern Alberta. Through pamphlets and articles in a major Salt Lake City newspaper, Card encouraged those "Saints who desire Good Places to make Comfortable homes" to emigrate. To ensure that the Church met its contractual obligations, the First Presidency called men and their families to Canada to assist with building the canal and settling the designated communities. On April 20, 1899, Charles Heber Dudley arrived in Magrath as the first permanent settler. Within a few months, a number of homes, a tithing barn, and other structures were completed.
The development of Magrath followed the pattern long used by the Latter-day Saints in establishing a community. The village layout was based on Joseph Smith's concept of the "plat of the City of Zion." Unusually wide streets arranged in a grid pattern oriented toward the cardinal points of the compass characterize Magrath as a significant example of a Latter-day Saint agricultural village.
Placed by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, 2012