is a
Town in western
Alberta ,
Canada , about 70 km northeast of
Jasper and about 300 km west of Alberta's capital city,
Edmonton .
Population: 9,405 (2001)
The town of Hinton was named for
W.D. Hinton , Vice President and General Manager of the
Grand Trunk Pacific Railway . The community was officially recognized in
1928 .
The exact location of the town of Hinton has changed ten times in its history, its sites scattered along a line some twelve kilometres in length. The original location was along
Hardisty Creek , where an aboriginal group from the Jasper area had left members stricken with
Smallpox while the rest of the group travelled to
Lac Ste. Anne to find medical aid for the smallpox epidemic which was ravaging the
Indigenous population in Alberta. The area was thus dubbed Cache Picote (Smallpox Camp) in
1870 .
Jack Gregg established a trading post at Prairie Creek in
1888 to serve travellers along the Jasper trail. The creek is now known as
Muskuta Creek after an incorrect interpretation of the
Cree name by white settlers. The construction of the railroad saw the establishment of a construction camp at Prairie Creek in
1908 . The
Canadian Northern Railway also established a station called
Bliss , 8 km from Prairie Creek, in
1914 . In
1915 , Dalehurst became the postal station for Hinton. Entrance, another important centre to Hinton, served as its communications centre. Entrance was so named due to its location at the entrance to
Jasper National Park .
The Canadian Northern Railway became an aggregating force as settlements grew around the operations of this company. The company, however, abandoned its track in
1926 .
The population of Hinton experienced a boom during the
1930s when American entrepreneur
Frank Seabolt and two partners opened the Hinton coal mine in
1931 . Shortly thereafter, a
Recession caused the population to dwindle to less than 100 people, but the town rebounded in
1955 with the opening of a pulp mill. The mill brought rapid construction to Hinton and to the neighbouring village of
Drinnan , and the two communities amalgamated in
1958 to form the present municipality of Hinton.
According to the 2001 census:
- Population: 9,405 (9,961 in 1996)
- Land area: 25.76 km&2
- Median family income: $65,269
- Average value of private dwelling: $116,808
Hinton has many activities including:
- Skiing
- Kayaking
- Canoeing
- Slo-Pitch
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Hinton Parklander (weekly)
- FM 97.5: CFXH "The Fox" (classic hits)
