Picture Butte

History

Picture Butte received its name from a prominence southeast of town. By 1947, however, the prominence's soil had been reworked and used for street improvements, highway construction and a dyke on the shore of the Picture Butte Lake Reservoir. The prominence no longer exists. Homesteading in the area began in the early 20th century. The building of the Lethbridge Northern Irrigation System in 1923 and the CPR rail line in 1925 stimulated an influx of settlers. The first post office opened in 1925. In 1943, Picture Butte became a village, and it attained town status in 1961 with a population of 978. The Canadian Sugar Factory closed in 1978 and resulted in the loss of tax revenues and employment opportunities to the town. Industrial activity consists of small service, warehousing and wholesaling industries. The town annexed approximately in 1991, significantly changing the town's boundary since the general municipal plan of 1980. A number of farms and properties in the Picture Butte area have changed and adapted over time; for example, in 2016, the Natural Resources Conservation Board approved Scholten Farms' request to convert swine feeders to cattle feeders.

Most-observed species

• Canada Goose (canadensis Group)

  Branta canadensis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,737
• Mallard

  Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  1,332
• Black-capped Chickadee

  Poecile atricapillus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  1,315
• Northern Flicker

  Colaptes auratus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,292
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  1,197
• Black-billed Magpie

  Pica hudsonia (Sabine, 1823) · Aves
  1,177
• European Starling

  Sturnus vulgaris Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  1,098
• House Sparrow

  Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,073

Most recent

• M 2.8 — 2024-01-20
  8 km S of Cardston, Canada
• M 3.3 — 2017-11-22
  21 km S of Magrath, Canada
• M 2.5 — 2016-11-29
  16 km S of Cardston, Canada
• M 2.9 — 2014-09-12
  13 km ENE of Picture Butte, Canada
• M 2.7 — 2014-09-11
  9 km SW of Cardston, Canada
• M 3.4 — 2014-09-07
  36 km SSE of Magrath, Canada