Mennonite Settlement - Coaldale, Alberta
Posted by: 
wildwoodke
N 49° 44.272 W 112° 34.033
12U E 387074 N 5510664
This Alberta Heritage marker speaks of the history of the Mennonite Community in Alberta, particularly those that settled near Coaldale, Alberta.
Waymark Code: WMF2Z8
Location: Alberta, Canada
Date Posted: 08/13/2012
Views: 14
The text from the plaque:
Mennonite Settlement
”Mennonites have been moving to Alberta for well over a century. Mennonite settlement stretches back to 1894 when Mennonites from Waterloo County, Ontario, established a settlement in Didsbury. Didsbury’s first building was a narrow log immigrant shed built to give new arrivals a place to stay until they could move to their homesteads. Over the next 20 years more families came from Ontario and Manitoba, and from American states including Iowa, Nebraska, Indiana and Pennsylvania. Some settled in Didsbury but others went to other parts of the province including the Tofield and Carstairs areas.
In the 1920s some Mennonites left their homes in the Soviet Union and came to Canada, in Alberta, these families settled near Didsbury, Linden, Rosedale, and Coaldale. Settlers in the Coaldale area told of sleeping in graineries and weeding beet fields to get their start in their new home. Many had come as part of a Canadian Pacific Railway colonization scheme, and took up irrigated land in the area. The new settlers established churches, a bible school, a library, cheese factory, and a hospital. The tried to keep their German language alive by starting the Society for the Preservation of the German Language, and by holding German school on Saturdays.
Settlement spread to the Peace River area of northern Alberta in the 1930s when Mennonites from Saskatchewan moved west. Tales of difficult journeys on snowy trails and night skies lit by forest fires are part of many families’ lore. Along with farming, many trapped furs in their early days in Alberta’s north. Mennonite immigrants have continued to arrive in Alberta coming from places including Mexico, South America, and other parts of Canada.”
While Mennonite congregations differ on many aspects of religious and cultural life, they share a belief in pacifism and an understanding of the challenges immigrants face. Today, through organizations and outreach, Mennonites help others make the transition to life in Canada.”