St. Paul

History

The community was founded as a Métis colony in 1896 after missionary Albert Lacombe petitioned the Canadian government for a land grant reserved for the Métis people to farm. The colony was founded as Saint-Paul-des-Métis on four townships of federal government property One of the original structures of the colony, the Old St. Paul Rectory, a mission site built as the administrative centre for the Oblate priests remains standing today, and is designated an Alberta Provincial Historical Resource. Following the failure of the Métis colony the area was opened up to other Canadians, and under the care of Father Thérien, 450 people including French-Catholic and the community was incorporated as the Village of St. Paul de Métis on June 14, 1912, though it was referred to as St. Paul des Métis by June 6, 1922, and would later incorporate as the Town of St. Paul, removing any mention of the Métis on December 15, 1936. The community would construct a 48 km railroad track to connect the village with the Canadian railway network in 1920, which had stopped at Spedden, Alberta.

Most-observed species

• Canada Goose (canadensis Group)

  Branta canadensis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  183
• Mallard

  Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  152
• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  144
• Black-capped Chickadee

  Poecile atricapillus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  144
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  110
• Red-winged Blackbird

  Agelaius phoeniceus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  102
• Common Raven

  Corvus corax Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  99
• Song Sparrow

  Melospiza melodia (A.Wilson, 1810) · Aves
  97

Most recent

• M 3.9 — 2026-05-09
  15 km SSW of Smoky Lake, Canada