Vulcan

History

Vulcan was named by a surveyor for the Canadian Pacific Railway after the Roman God of Fire – Vulcan. O The community was incorporated as a village on December 23, 1912, and then as a town on June 15, 1921. In July 1927, a major tornado destroyed many homes and the new curling rink in the town. That tornado was made famous when a photograph of it approaching Vulcan was used for the "tornado" article in Encyclopædia Britannica. The first newspaper to serve the area was The Vulcan Review, which began in 1912 and was published for one year. The Vulcan Review was followed by the Vulcan Advocate in 1913, which is still being published digitally today as member of Sun Media Community Newspapers part of Postmedia Network. Due to the changing economics of the agricultural industry, the original elevators were taken down one by one. The last elevator was demolished on April 27, 2025. A British Commonwealth Air Training Plan air force base, RCAF Station Vulcan, was located southwest of the town during the Second World War. Many of the old hangars still exist and the runways can still be seen. It is now operated as Vulcan/Kirkcaldy Aerodrome and some of the old runways are still in use, though the base and its hangars are privately owned. There is a second airport, Vulcan Airport. In 2015 the town council voted to form Heritage Advisory Board Committee to manage the historical sites in Vulcan County.

Geography

Vulcan experiences a dry continental climate (Köppen climate classification Dfb) with long, cold winters and short, warm summers.

Most-observed species

• House Sparrow

  Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  279
• Black-billed Magpie

  Pica hudsonia (Sabine, 1823) · Aves
  176
• Canada Goose (canadensis Group)

  Branta canadensis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  133
• Mallard

  Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  130
• Common Raven

  Corvus corax Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  122
• Horned Lark

  Eremophila alpestris (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  114
• Eurasian Collared-Dove

  Streptopelia decaocto (Frivaldszky, 1838) · Aves
  110
• European Starling

  Sturnus vulgaris Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  107

Most recent

• M 2.9 — 2014-09-12
  13 km ENE of Picture Butte, Canada