LEDUC MAP EDMONTON

Directions: Exit Edmonton on Hwy 2 south, and choose exit 519 to Leduc.

Distance: 35.4 km, or about 37 minutes, from Edmonton.

Info: 780-986-5454; www.leduc.ca.

Leduc’s first settler, Robert Taylor Telford, came to this picturesque prairie parkland in 1889. The area’s first postmaster, general merchant, and justice of the peace, Telford later served as mayor and member of the legislative assembly. The settlement was informally called Telford until approximately 1890 when then Lieutenant-Governor Dewdney of the North-West Territories set up a station on the Dominion Telegraph line. He called it Leduc to honour missionary Father Hippolyte Leduc of the OMI. Leduc was incorporated as a village in 1899 and a town in 1906.

The town’s, province’s, and country’s future expanded when oil was first discovered at Leduc No.

1 on February 13, 1947. Leduc became a city on September 1, 1983, and today it has more than

25,000 residents. If you explore Leduc on foot or bicycle, you will find almost 38 kilometres of multi-use pathways winding through the city, including 10 kilometres of the Trans Canada Trail. A unique heritage site, the Stone Barn Garden is a pleasant stop when exploring the trails. Look for the barn in Leduc’s Cultural Village on Telford Lake’s south side, at 44th Street and 48th Avenue; it is located within William F. Lede Park. You will see a large timber-framed structure; its interior, though, has been re-created in stone to represent the original stone dairy barn that once stood on these grounds. Built with sections saved from the original barn’s stone walls, the timber-frame structure mimics a European post-and-beam construction model that is more than 600 years old.

Still popular with dairy farmers, Leduc County is called a milk-shed because it is home to about 122 of Alberta’s 1,422 dairy producersalmost nine percent. It is also one of Alberta’s top five regions for beef operations. Leduc holds an annual Canada Day celebration, followed by a berry festival in mid-July.

You will find a number of picnic spots including Telford Lake, Alexandra Park Ponds, Coady Lake, the Leduc Reservoir (good for trout fishing), and West Point Lake.

Leduc’s Visitor Information Centre is located at the Chamber of Commerce, at 6420-50th Street (780986-5454). Annual events include the Leduc West Antique Society-Country Swap Meet (late May), Leduc Black Gold Rodeo Days (early June), Alberta Dairy Congress (June), the Leduc West Exposition (July), Country Harvest (September), and the Santa Claus Parade and Festivities (late November).

H. POLLARD, ALBERTA ARCHIVES

Imperial Oil’s Leduc No. 1 struck oil February 13, 1947, Devon.

Dr. Woods House Museum and Tea Room,

Location: 4801-49th Avenue, Leduc.

Info: Open Tuesday to Friday, 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Donations accepted; fees for group tours. 780-986-1517.

There are few western Canadian examples of a house that also served as a doctor’s office. The Dr. Woods House Museum reflects rural Alberta life in the Craftsman bungalow where Dr. Woods lived and practised from 1927 until he died in 1936 at the age of 66. Restored to its original appearance, the distinctive bungalow includes original exhibits to showcase the doctor’s medical practice. Themed teas are held in the tea room.

Pioneer Village Museum, Western Canadian Blacksmith Guild, and Edmonton Power Historical Foundation Museum,

Location: Leduc West Antique Society grounds, 5 km west of Leduc on Hwy 39, and 1 km north on Range Road 260 at 49541 Range Road 260.

Info: Open for annual events and to groups by appointment. Food concessions typically open for special events. Sunday church services during events. Call to book group tours. Admission is charged. 780-986-5912 (Leduc West Antique Society); 780-471-4285 (Edmonton Power Historical Foundation Museum); www.leducwestantique.com.

The Leduc West Antique Society preserves the history of Leduc, Calmar, Thorsby and other surrounding communities at the Pioneer Village Museum. Historical and replica buildings on 32 hectares of land house antique equipment and collectibles. Two houses, one built in 1917, the other in the 1930s of squared logs, are filled with authentic period furnishings. You’ll also find a rare 1911 Holt tractor, along with a vintage eight-bottom plow, small engine collection, and scale models of machinery, cars, trucks, and tractors. Be sure to visit the working sawmill, blacksmith shop, gas station, and St. John’s Lutheran Church. You can taste gingersnaps baked in a restored wood stove, watch members of the Western Canadian Blacksmith Guild create artifacts using antique tools, and enjoy tractor square-dancing! Other events include tractor pulls with machines from 1960 and later, vintage machinery and vehicle parades, and plowing and threshing demonstrations. Families will especially enjoy the kids’ pedal-tractor pull, sheepdog demonstrations, and kids’ barrel train.

Also on site is the Edmonton Power Historical Foundation Museum, which has artifacts dating back to 1902. Ride a pedal-powered electric generator bike, play games to learn about electricity, and explore hands-on displays. The Bellis & Morcom steam engine is driven by a piston steam engine that was made in 1927 in Birmingham, England. You can power a Lego model of a 1908 streetcar up and down its track, as you discover Edmonton’s use of more than 100 years of electrified public transit. You’ll also enjoy the Lego model of the 1902 power plant that once sat on Edmonton’s Rossdale power plant site.

Annual events include the Tractor Pull and Swap Meet (May), the July Exposition, and the Country Harvest (September). Vendors sell handmade goods, fresh produce, and local foodstuffs.

Amberlea Meadows

Location: 51031 Range Road 252, Leduc County. Drive south on Hwy 2, turn west on Ellerslie Road, turn south on 127th Street, west on 41st Avenue SW, and south on 156th Street. Amberlea Meadows on left.

Info: 780-955-7608.

Amberlea Meadows hosts a variety of indoor and outdoor horse shows throughout the year. You will find ample spectator seating, a large, heated show barn attached to the main riding arena complex, and outdoor facilities that include sand, multi-use, and grass rings, as well as a grass grand prix jumping arena with obstacles that include a clock tower, devil’s dike, bank, and table top.

Castrol Raceway

Location: Between Leduc and Edmonton, on the north side of the Edmonton Airport. Travel south on Hwy 2 and exit west onto Hwy 19 before Leduc.

Info: Season runs April to October. 780-986-1432; 1-877-331-RACE (7223); 780-468-FAST (3278) (event hotline); www.castrol racew ay.com.

Located next to the Edmonton International Airport, Castrol Raceway features a half-kilometre International Hot Rod Association sanctioned dragstrip, a 0.6-kilometre clay oval track, a 2.7-kilometre Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FI^)-sanctioned road course, a 10-acre Full Pro Motocross Track, and a mini-sprint cart track. Castrol Raceway hosts a variety of major events throughout the race season such as the popular Rocky Mountain Nitro Jam Nationals, Absolute Annihilation Night, Superstars of Monster Jam, World of Outlaws, and the Manufacturer Series. It also features weekly events like Street Legals, Bracketeer drag racing, Nite Thunder (sprint cars) and drifting. You will find skyboxes overlooking the drag strip, oval suites, concessions, grandstand viewing, and a playground for the kids.

Amazing Field Maze

Location: 10 minutes south of Leduc on Hwy 2A, and 1.5 km east on Township Road 484. Info: Admission is charged; groups of 10 or more who book in advance receive a 10 percent discount. 780-986-9034; www.amazingco rnmaze. ca.

Decode secret messages to find your way through the four-hectare Amazing Field Maze. You can also pet farm animals, play horseshoes and volleyball, and reserve the firepit for a wiener roast or evening by the fire. Be sure to wear sturdy shoes for your trek through the cornfield.

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