Tofield

Tofield
Town
Town of Tofield

Main street
Tofield

Location of Tofield in Alberta

Coordinates: 53°22′13″N 112°40′0″W / 53.37028°N 112.66667°W / 53.37028; -112.66667Coordinates: 53°22′13″N 112°40′0″W / 53.37028°N 112.66667°W / 53.37028; -112.66667
Country  Canada
Province  Alberta
Region Central Alberta
Census division 10
Municipal district Beaver County
Government[1]
  Mayor Harold Neale Conquest
  Governing body
  CAO Cindy Neufeld
Area (2011)[2]
  Total 8.17 km2 (3.15 sq mi)
Elevation[3] 700 m (2,300 ft)
Population (2011)[2]
  Total 2,182
  Density 267.1/km2 (692/sq mi)
Time zone MST (UTC-7)
  Summer (DST) MDT (UTC-6)
Postal code T0B 4J0
Area code(s) +1-780
Highways Highway 14
Highway 834
Waterway Beaverhill Lake
Website Official website

Tofield /ˈtfld/ is a town in central Alberta, Canada. It is located approximately 68 km (42 mi) east of Edmonton at the junction of Highway 14, Highway 834, and Highway 626. Beaverhill Lake is located immediately northeast of the community.

History

Administration building and library
Tofield Community Hall

Before 1865, only Aboriginals lived in this area, the home of the Cree. Beaverhill Lake (known then as Beaver or Beaver Hills Lake) was full of fish and wildfowl. A variety of wild fruits could be eaten fresh or added to pemmican. Big game animals, including herds of bison, were available for food and clothing.

Tofield's Aboriginal legacy is evident in the names of local creeks: Maskawan, Amisk and Ketchamoot. The latter refers to Chief Ketchamoot who came from Ft. Pitt in 1860 to help the local Crees against their traditional Blackfoot enemies. Victorious, he remained in the area, and is buried on the bank of the Ketchamoot Creek.

Tofield's first school was organized in 1890 and named McKenzie School in honor of the first postmaster in the area, at the Logan post office. The Tofield Post Office was obtained in 1897, and was located at the south end of Beaverhill Lake.

The town of Tofield had its beginning in 1906 when Morton and Adams built a General Store near the Post Office at a site southeast of present-day Tofield. By the spring of 1906 other businesses, including a lumber yard, hardware store, another general store, a drug store, a blacksmith shop and a hotel, had been founded.

Very soon after that, the town moved to a site northwest of the old site and north of the present townsite when the Edmonton-based company Crafts and Lee offered free lots that were near the site of the proposed route of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway. By fall of 1908 two blocks of businesses were filled and all residential lots were full.

Later that year the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway decided on a route south of the second townsite and the town moved again, to its present location. Tofield was proclaimed a village on September 9, 1907 and became a town just two years later in 1909.

Name origin

Tofield is named after the pioneer medical man, Dr. J.H. Tofield, who came to the area in 1893 from England. He was born in Yorkshire and educated in Oxford as a doctor and as an engineer. Tofield arrived in Edmonton in 1882 and served as an army doctor in the Riel Rebellion. The name Tofield was first applied to the school district and in March 1898 to the post office.

Geography

Climate

Tofield experiences a humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification Dfb).

Climate data for Tofield
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 15.5
(59.9)
15
(59)
16.5
(61.7)
30
(86)
32
(90)
30.6
(87.1)
32.5
(90.5)
33.5
(92.3)
33
(91)
28.5
(83.3)
18.9
(66)
14.9
(58.8)
33.5
(92.3)
Average high °C (°F) −6.5
(20.3)
−3.9
(25)
1.3
(34.3)
10.6
(51.1)
16.8
(62.2)
20.2
(68.4)
22.2
(72)
21.3
(70.3)
16.5
(61.7)
10.3
(50.5)
−0.2
(31.6)
−5.6
(21.9)
8.6
(47.5)
Daily mean °C (°F) −11.6
(11.1)
−9.2
(15.4)
−3.7
(25.3)
4.6
(40.3)
10.5
(50.9)
14.2
(57.6)
16.3
(61.3)
15.3
(59.5)
10.6
(51.1)
5
(41)
−4.6
(23.7)
−10.4
(13.3)
3.1
(37.6)
Average low °C (°F) −16.6
(2.1)
−14.6
(5.7)
−8.7
(16.3)
−1.3
(29.7)
4.2
(39.6)
8.1
(46.6)
10.5
(50.9)
9.3
(48.7)
4.7
(40.5)
−0.4
(31.3)
−9
(16)
−15.2
(4.6)
−2.4
(27.7)
Record low °C (°F) −42.5
(−44.5)
−42.5
(−44.5)
−32
(−26)
−31
(−24)
−9
(16)
−2.5
(27.5)
3
(37)
−3
(27)
−8.5
(16.7)
−23.5
(−10.3)
−35.5
(−31.9)
−45.6
(−50.1)
−45.6
(−50.1)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 22.3
(0.878)
17.4
(0.685)
22.5
(0.886)
25.8
(1.016)
50.5
(1.988)
84.6
(3.331)
95.2
(3.748)
75.1
(2.957)
51.6
(2.031)
18.7
(0.736)
18.8
(0.74)
23.2
(0.913)
505.7
(19.909)
Source: Environment Canada[4]

Demographics

In the 2011 Census, the Town of Tofield had a population of 2,182 living in 844 of its 878 total dwellings, a 16.3% change from its 2006 population of 1,876. With a land area of 8.17 km2 (3.15 sq mi), it had a population density of 267.1/km2 (691.7/sq mi) in 2011.[2]

In 2006, Tofield had a population of 1,876 living in 756 dwellings, a 3.2% increase from 2001. The town has a land area of 6.01 km2 (2.32 sq mi) and a population density of 312.4/km2 (809/sq mi).[5]

Transportation

Tofield Airport hangars

The town is served by the Tofield Airport, operated by Three Hills Airport Commission.

Education

C.W. Sears Elementary School provides education from Kindergarten to grade 4, Tofield School from grade 5 to 12, and Northstar Outreach School grades 10 to 12. [6]

See also

References

External links

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