Millwoods Timeline

1877 | • Treaty 6 negotiated with Chief Papaschase |
1884 | • 40-square-mile Papaschase Reserve surveyed |
1889 | • Papaschase Band disbanded |
1894 | • Land in South Edmonton sold for $3/acre to European immigrants who farmed there |
1969 | • Province secretly assembled 70% of the nine square mile area; private developers acquired remaining 30% when land assembly program was announced |
1970 | • City changed zoning from low-density agricultural to general urban use and annexed land in County of Strathcona |
1971 | • Mill Woods Development Concept created First lots in Richfield went on sale by lottery December 17, 1971 |
1972 | • Lee Ridge neighbourhood planning finalized; Kameyosek and Tipiskan in preliminary stages |
1973 |
• Grace Martin Elementary School built and over-crowded within its first year of operation. • More than 100 people waited overnight in city hall for a chance to buy a lot |
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1974 |
• Judicial inquiry into land bank deals • Construction began on Grant MacEwan Community College campus |
1976 | • Last third of Mill Woods land bank purchased by the City from the province |
1977 |
•Salvador Housing Co-op built • 33% of city’s growth was in Mill Woods; by 1980 that figure grew to 50% • Mill Woods Cultural and Recreational Facility Association (MCARFA) incorporated |
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1978 |
• Increasing concerns about social problems in Mill Woods and lack of facilities • Population in Mill Woods approached 30,000 residents • Major road construction on 76th Ave from 39th St to 44A St, 92 Ave from 34th St to 50th St, Parsons road from 25th Ave to 27th Ave, Whitemud Drive between Calgary Trail and 99th St, and 75th St, from 51st Ave to just south of Wagner Road |
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1979 |
• Plan for public and separate high school and two public junior high schools on one site with the MillWoods Recreation Centre, a playing field and parking lot approved • Pipeline explosion March 2 11:55 am |
1980 | • Lot values fell in Mill Woods due to high interest rates |
1983 | • MCARFA opened Mill Woods golf course on former city dump |
1985 | • Perception in some parts of Edmonton that Mill Woods had become a ghetto |
1987 | • Tornado hit parts of Mill Woods |
1987 | • 72% of Mill Woods residents said it was the most appealing Edmonton neighbourhood; 57% of Edmonton residence said the least appealing |
1988 | • Grey Nuns Hospital opened |
1991 | • City earned $185M on sale of Mill Woods land |
1992 | • Mill Woods Town Centre opened |
1994 |
• Mill Woods threatened to split from the Edmonton Federation of Community Leagues over Rec Centre ice time • Rally of 15,000 to save Grey Nuns the largest protest in Edmonton since the hunger marches drew more than 10,000 to the legislature in 1932 |
2000 | • Growing concerns about drug and gang related violence in Mill Woods RAGE (Residents Against Gang Environments) formed |
Information compiled as part of the Living Local Project, lead by Ground Zero Productions.
Funding for this project provided by the Mill Woods Presidents' Council, the 12 Community Leagues in South East Edmonton, Alberta Historical Resources Foundation, Edmonton Heritage Council and the Edmonton Arts Council.
To view more about the Mill Woods Living Heritage, please visit www.millwoodshistory.org