New Norway

History

In 1892, travelling first on the newly constructed Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) line, the Ole M. Olstad family disembarked in Wetaskiwin and made their way to the Duhamel settlement, which had been established for some years. The family quickly filed Dominion Lands Act homesteads a few miles south for themselves and several relatives and friends in the United States. In addition, they purchased available CPR land for $3.00 per acre ($7.41/ha). For a time the area was known as the "Olstead District". However, as other Norwegian families (along with those of other nationalities) settled in the area, the name changed to New Norway around 1895. By 1903 the fledgling community had a school, general store, and a blacksmith shop to its credit. In the fall of 1909, in anticipation of the new Grand Trunk Pacific rail line being built nearby, the community was moved (by the use of skids and seven oxen) to its present location NW-11-45-21-W4 (see Dominion Land Survey). According to the Camrose Canadian, the townsite of New Norway was put on sale on October 14, 1909, with 14 businesses filing an intent to establish within the first month. Commercial lots sold from $100 to $250, and residential lots were priced from $50 to $150. New Norway incorporated as a village on May 6, 1910, and its first council was elected on May 9, 1910, with Norman M. Smith, James F. Willows and Evan O. Olstad serving. Over a century later, the Village of New Norway was dissolved to hamlet status under the jurisdiction of Camrose County effective November 1, 2012.

Most-observed species

• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  286
• Canada Goose (canadensis Group)

  Branta canadensis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  282
• Mallard

  Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  275
• Black-capped Chickadee

  Poecile atricapillus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  270
• Black-billed Magpie

  Pica hudsonia (Sabine, 1823) · Aves
  260
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  240
• Red-winged Blackbird

  Agelaius phoeniceus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  218
• Common Raven

  Corvus corax Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  192

Most recent

• M 3.8 — 2019-03-04
  9 km NW of Red Deer, Canada