Leavitt | |
|---|---|
  Leavitt Location of Leavitt Show map of Alberta Leavitt Leavitt (Canada) Show map of Canada | |
| Coordinates:49°10′N113°27′W / 49.167°N 113.450°W /49.167; -113.450 | |
| Country | Canada |
| Province | Alberta |
| Region | Southern Alberta |
| Census division | 3 |
| Municipal district | Cardston County |
| Government | |
| • Type | Unincorporated |
| • Governing body | Cardston County Council |
| Population (2008)[1] | |
• Total | 59 |
| Time zone | UTC−07:00 (MST) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−06:00 (MDT) |
| Area code(s) | 403,587, 825 |
Leavitt is ahamlet insouthern Alberta, Canada withinCardston County,[2] located about 13 kilometres (8 mi) west ofCardston onHighway 5. It falls within theCanadian federal electoral district ofMedicine Hat—Cardston—Warner.
The first settler of the area wasThomas Rowell Leavitt, aLatter-day Saint fromUtah Territory who came to Alberta fleeing aUnited States government crackdown onpolygamy during a wave of late nineteenth centuryLatter-day Saint emigration to Canada andMexico. The settlement's first name was Buffalo Flats, but it was subsequently changed to Leavitt in honour of the early Latter-day Saint settler.[3]
Cardston was the firstLatter-day Saint settlement in Canada, and Leavitt was founded by a like-mindedLatter-day Saint. Thomas Rowell Leavitt was born inHatley, Quebec,Canada in 1834. Early converts toMormonism, his parents subsequently moved to Utah.[4] He had 26 children: 12 with his wife Ann Eliza; 9 with wife Antoinette; and 5 with Harriet Martha. Four children died in their infancy, leaving 22 children who grew to adulthood. Twenty of the 22 eventually chose to remain in Canada as citizens, and today there are many Leavitts in the region, descendants of the original pioneer.[5]
Thomas Rowell 'Tom' Leavitt was a farmer who had previously served asconstable,marshal andsheriff ofWellsville, Utah. To reach Canada, Leavitt endured a six-week, 1,300-kilometre (800 mi) journey in early spring 1887.[6] He and his party reached their destination at Lee Creek,Alberta, on May 25. They had come in covered wagons—the last recorded pioneerwagon train in theOld West. He had left his first wife Ann Eliza (Jenkins) behind at his Wellsville ranch, and Leavitt was accompanied on his trek by his third wife Harriet Martha (Dowdle), along with several of his children by his three wives.
The first school met in the church building, completed July 10, 1896.[7]
Thomas Leavitt's son Alfred, born in Utah, followed his father to Alberta in 1897. He and his brothers helped dig the irrigation canals thatCharles Ora Card, founder of Cardston, had promised the Canadian government in return for moreland grants to Latter-day Saint settlers.
Basking in the shadow ofChief Mountain and theCanadian Rockies range, the hamlet of Leavitt is located in a valley of rolling hills only kilometres from theU.S.-Canada border. Cattle ranching and agriculture make up most of the area's economy. The Latter-day Saint legacy still tinctures much of this area of Alberta. Much of the region's population is still heavily Latter-day Saint, which is typified by the largeCardston Alberta Temple in Cardston.
The Hamlet of Leavitt's firstpost office opened in 1900 with Walter Glenn the firstpostmaster; the post office closed permanently in 1968. During those 68 years, three Leavitt family members acted aspostmaster.[8] The founder of Leavitt, former sheriff Tom Leavitt, died in 1891. The Leavitt Chapel, ameetinghouse for the CardstonStake, was built in 1896, and remained in use until the 1950s.
Much of the area around Leavitt is sparsely settled.
The population of Leavitt according to the2008 municipal census conducted by Cardston County is 59.[1]
