Strathmore

History

The town began as a hamlet for the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) lines that were built in the area in 1883. The CPR named the town after one of its benefactors: Claude Bowes-Lyon, the Earl of Strathmore. The Earl's granddaughter, Queen Elizabeth – as consort to King George VI – later passed through the community on the "Royal Train" in late May 1939. A track-laying record was made between Strathmore and Cheadle when the railway was built. In one hour one mile (1.6 km) of steel was laid and – at the end of the ten-hour working day – the rails were laid to Cheadle, for a record. The passing of the Canadian government's Dominion Lands Act in 1872, encouraging settlement, led to increases in Strathmore's population and its importance as a rail supply stop. Strathmore's first school opened in 1908. The CPR railway tracks are now gone, the land having been subdivided. In 2011, the Town of Strathmore celebrated its centennial – and released the book 100 Years of Memories: Celebrating Strathmore's Centennial through Polished Publishing Group in early 2012.