Where Did All Those Town Names Come From?

 Ever wonder how Stavley got its name? How 'bout Zama City AB? 

Let's go back 'bout 100 years...

As more and more settlers established their homesteads in Alberta, small rural communities began to develop. Little villages and hamlets usually centred around the local church or community hall which provided a sense of kinship for local residents. By the 1900s many of those small towns scattered throughout the prairie had been transformed into a new and developing province.

Many communities in Alberta are named after places or people that had been near to the hearts of the settlers there. By breaking down the cultural significance of a particular place name, one can generally discover where the earliest settlers of that region were from.

This is exactly what the crew over at Keep Alberta Rolling has been doing.
They are a non-profit that takes time to showcase the benefits and potential of the Alberta screen industry & promoting Alberta initiatives in film.

Keep Alberta Rolling has been bringing us #CinematicABfromAtoZ.

Brock Skretting, Head of Advocacy for Keep Alberta Rolling says it started as an idea to bring awareness to the little towns.

"One thing that we really try to do is expand to new places and talk about even places that haven't had a film there or haven't had one for a long time. Let's showcase some of the unique buildings and unique landscapes, the unique history of those places."

He adds that especially during COVID times it's always good to go back in history and remind ourselves that we've been here for a long time. Alberta is a place full of rich history and resiliency.

From High River to Sexsmith there is a tonne of interesting history to these towns.

"A lot of these names they either have had an interesting story like happenstance like Pincher Creek where the Northwest Police dropped a pair of pincers. They found them and they named it Pincher Creek. Then other places are named after unique individuals. As you know, pioneers and settlers and traders."

Find it all on their Facebook Page and follow what the crew over there at Keep Alberta Rolling are up to! They are constantly promoting and encouraging towns to help get their names on the map and, just maybe, into another film.

"It's a time of growth in the screen industry because everyone's been, you know, subscribing to Netflix, Amazon, Apple TV and all these different platforms. So why not make it as much of that as possible here at home and we're very grateful for local leaders like Tanya Thorne from Okotoks there and Mayor Rhonda Hunter from Didsbury, just to name a few."

Find out more about Filming in our area HERE