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Prairie, forest and waving wheat fields
Back in the early 1900s, there wasn’t much in Strathcona except for the railway track from Calgary. But this little Alberta town across the river from Edmonton was growing fast. The railway attracted settlers who began making their homes there, and the settlers attracted businesses. Then, in 1908, a big block of land in Strathcona was set aside as the home of the new University of Alberta.
The university buildings were constructed in a clearing amid poplar trees on the south bank of the North Saskatchewan River, and the first students could hear coyotes howling at night. During the day, the students could look across the river to the new provincial legislature building. Alberta had become a province in 1905, and the new provincial lawmakers had decided to create the university in their very first session.
Today, Strathcona is a historic part of the city of Edmonton, and the University of Alberta is still located there. And, while the university has grown to become one of Canada’s largest and most respected institutions of higher learning, its main campus remains a green and leafy place on the river banks. To celebrate the University of Alberta’s 100th birthday, Canada Post has issued a domestic rate (52¢) stamp decorated with the school’s colours of green and gold—green for Alberta’s prairie and forest, and gold for its waving wheat fields. |
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