The first inhabitants hunted and gathered in the area that is nowEdmonton, Alberta, Canada, around 3,000 BC and perhaps as early as 10,000 BC, when an ice-free corridor opened up as thelast ice age ended and timber, water, and wildlife became available in the region.^[1]

Edmonton, like many places in North America, was inhabited for thousands of years byFirst Nations groups.

Evidence points to the presence of theOld North Trail^[2] through what is now Old Strathcona and Rossdale. That ancient ancestral trail stretched from theBarren Lands in the north to Mexico.^[3]

In 1795, traders of the Montreal-basedNorth West Company (NWC) established Fort Augustus northeast of Edmonton, near the site of present-dayFort Saskatchewan.^[4] TheHudson's Bay Company (HBC), a competitor with the North West Company in theNorth American fur trade, builtEdmonton House (later Fort Edmonton) adjacent to Fort Augustus a few months later.^[5][6][4]

In 1802, both forts were moved 30 kilometres (19 mi) upstream (southwest) to theRossdale Flats, close by present-daydowntown Edmonton.^[4] The forts were moved again 80 kilometres (50 mi) east (near Smoky Lake) then moved back to the Rossdale site in 1813.^[4] Following the merger of the HBC and NWC in 1821, the name Fort Augustus was dropped, with operations centralized under a single fort by the name of Fort Edmonton.^[4] The fort served as headquarters for the HBC fur trade operations North Saskatchewan District ofRupert's Land.^[4]

The Rossdale fort was in use until 1830 when flood of theNorth Saskatchewan River prompted a move to higher ground. A site near present-dayAlberta Legislature Building was selected as the site for the new Fort Edmonton.^[4] The decline of the fur trade, which started in the 1860s, led to the abandonment of the operation at Fort Edmonton in the following decades.^[7] The fort was dismantled in 1915.

The first settlement outside of the fort was in the 1870s, pioneer farmers living in rustic log cabins along the river - these farms formed the structure for the 1882 survey of the land into "riverlots", as exceptions to the usual grid-format Dominion Land Survey dominant across the rest of the Prairies. "1885 Street" at Fort Edmonton Park represents the early hamlet of Edmonton. The Town of Edmonton was established in 1894. The town encompassed modernBoyle Street (the original downtown) andMcCauley neighbourhoods.

In 1876, First Nations and the Crown signedTreaty 6. Through this treaty, a vast region including Edmonton was ceded to the Crown.

In 1870, theHudson's Bay Company had been granted a reserve on much of the present downtown, but by 1913, it was all sold off at the peak of the pre-World War I land price inflationary boom. TheCalgary and Edmonton Railway was completed in 1891, but it did not enter Edmonton, situated on the north bank of the river. Instead,Strathcona was established at the railhead on the southside. Strathcona incorporated as a town in 1899.

Edmonton got its first railway in 1903 when theEdmonton, Yukon and Pacific Railway was built from Strathcona across theLow Level Bridge. Edmonton became a city in 1904, and shortly after, with a mere 5,000 people became Alberta's capital. Edmonton gained a direct railway connection toWinnipeg with the 1905 arrival of theCanadian Northern Railway, which opened a line toVancouver in 1915, followed by the arrival of theGrand Trunk Pacific Railway. Strathcona attained city status in 1907, and shortly thereafter was announced as the home of the newUniversity of Alberta. With the new land west of Queens Avenue (modern 100th St) available to the city, the city grew tremendously, and Boyle Street was abandoned as the downtown for the new, current downtown. Many new communities, such asGlenora,Highlands, andWestmount, were built at this time as the economy gained momentum.

During the 1909-1912 period, Edmonton grew rapidly, causing profitable speculation in real estate. In 1912, Edmontonamalgamated with the city of Strathcona; as a result, the city extended south of the river.^[8]

Just prior toWorld War I, the real estate boom and general prosperity ended suddenly, causing the city's population to decline sharply—from over 72,500 in 1914 to less than 54,000 only two years later.^[9] The high rate of volunteer enlistment to the army during the war contributed to the drop in population.

From that low point, Edmonton's population and economy grew only slowly during the 1920s and 1930s, (It took off during and afterWorld War II.)

The first licensed airfield in Canada,Blatchford Field (later known asEdmonton City Centre (Blatchford Field) Airport), commenced operation in 1926.^[10] Pioneering aviators such asWilfrid R. "Wop" May andMax Ward used Blatchford Field as a major base for the distribution of mail, food, and medicine toNorthern Canada; hence Edmonton's role as the "Gateway to the North" was strengthened. World War II saw Edmonton's becoming a major base for the construction of theAlaska Highway and its airport was an important station on theNorthwest Staging Route.^[11]

Thefirst major oil discovery in Alberta was made on February 13, 1947, near the town ofLeduc, south of Edmonton.^[12] As early as 1914,oil reserves were known to exist in thesouthern parts of Alberta (seeTurner Valley, Alberta), but they produced very little oil compared to those around Edmonton. Additional oil reserves were discovered in the late 1940s and the 1950s near the town ofRedwater. Because most of Alberta's oil reserves were concentrated in central and northern Alberta, Edmonton became home to most of Alberta's oil industry.

The subsequentoil boom gave Edmonton new status as the "Oil Capital of Canada," and during the 1950s, the city increased in population from 149,000 to 269,000.^[9] After a relatively calm but still prosperous period in the 1960s, the city's growth took on renewed vigour concomitant with high world oil prices, triggered by the1973 oil crisis and the 1979Iranian Revolution. The oil boom of the 1970s and 1980s ended abruptly with the sharp decline in oil prices on the international market and the introduction of theNational Energy Program in 1981; that same year, the population had reached 521,000.^[9] Although the National Energy Program was later scrapped by the federal government in the mid-1980s, the collapse of world oil prices in 1986 and massive government cutbacks kept the city from making a full economic recovery until the late 1990s.^[13]

In 1981,West Edmonton Mall, the world's largest at the time, opened.^[14] Still the biggest in North America, the mall is one of Alberta's most-visited tourist attractions, and contains an indooramusement park, a large indoorwaterpark, a skating rink, a full-size replica of theSanta María, a dining and bar district, and a luxury hotel, in addition to over 700 shops and services.^[15][16] On June 14, 1986, whenGalaxyland'sMindbender derailed and slammed into a post, three people died and the fourth was injured.

Edmonton lost severalpassenger train routes in the 1980s, withVia Rail discontinuingservice to Drumheller in 1981 andservice to Calgary in 1985.^[17]On July 31, 1987, a devastatingtornado (ranked F4 on theFujita scale; main article:Edmonton tornado) hit the city and killed 27 people.^[18] The storm hit the areas ofBeaumont,Mill Woods,Bannerman,Fraser, andEvergreen.^[19] The day became known as "Black Friday."^[20] Then-mayorLaurence Decore cited the community's response to the tornado as evidence that Edmonton was a "city of champions," which popularized the city's unofficial slogan originally coined in 1984 to promote Edmonton.^[21] It was further popularized in a sporting context later in 1987 upon theEdmonton Eskimos winning the Grey Cup after theEdmonton Oilers won the Stanley Cup earlier in the year.^[21]

The city entered a recent period of economic recovery and prosperity in the late 1990s, aided by a strong recovery in oil prices and further economic diversification.^[22] While oil production andrefining remains the basis of many jobs in Edmonton, the city's economy has managed to diversify significantly (e.g., an explosion in high-tech jobs).^[23]Downtown Edmonton and parts of theinner city, after years of extremely high office vacancy rates and neglect, have recovered to a great degree, with office vacancy rates in downtown Edmonton at 5.0%.^[24] The downtown area is still undergoing a renaissance of its own, with further new projects underway or about to become reality and more people choosing to live in or near the downtown core (although suburban sprawl is still growing significantly).^[25]

In recent years, downtown Edmonton has seen rapid development, with streets like Jasper Avenue and 104 Street featuring many clubs, shops, restaurants, and galleries. Much of this growth has been spurred by the completion ofRogers Place.^[26] The newArt Gallery of Alberta opened in the downtown core in January 2010.^[27] The first new office tower in 22 years, theEPCOR Tower, began construction in 2008 and was completed in July 2010.^[28] TheIcon Towers, completed in 2010, were the tallest residential buildings in the city, being surpassed byThe Pearl in 2015.^[29] while many other high-rise condos are still under construction in the downtown core. Due to demand of density outside the core, three neighbourhoods (two just outside downtown)—Century Park,Glenora, andStrathearn—have proposed new high-rise urban villages, several of which were under construction as of 2009^[update].^[30]

Also in the outskirts, new residential areas are under development, such asBig Lake,Ellerslie,The Grange,Heritage Valley,Lewis Farms,The Meadows,The Palisades,Pilot Sound, andWindermere^[31] among others, as well as new power centres such as those within The Meadows^[32] and Windermere.^[33]

This economic prosperity is bringing in large numbers of workers from all over Canada. It was forecasted that 83,000 new residents would move to Edmonton between 2006 and 2010, twice the rate that city planners had expected.^[34] Many of the new workers that moved to the city were young men.^[35]

In 2008, the Edmonton metropolitan area surpassed one million, becoming the most northern city inNorth America with a metropolitan population of over one million.^[36]

In 2016 a new arena, Rogers Place, opened as part of the downtown's Ice District. In the same year, the final northeast leg of theAnthony Henday Drive was completed. Edmonton is the first city in Canada to have 100% free-flowing highway ring road.

In 2018, construction of theStantec Tower was completed, becoming the tallest building in Canada outside of Toronto.

• Edmonton annexations
• History of Alberta
• Timeline of Edmonton history

• History of Edmonton

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