Picture Butte is a town in southern Alberta, Canada. It is located 27 km (17 mi) north of the city of Lethbridge. It claims the title of "Livestock Feeding Capital of Canada."
Name
In 2010, Ernest and Austin Mardon stated that "the name is descriptive, being a translation of the Blackfoot 'the beautiful hill.'"[6]
History
Picture Butte received its name from a prominence southeast of town. By 1947, however, the prominence's soil had been reworked and used for street improvements, highway construction and a dyke on the shore of the Picture Butte Lake Reservoir. The prominence no longer exists.
Homesteading in the area began in the early 20th century. The building of the Lethbridge Northern Irrigation System in 1923 and the CPR rail line in 1925 stimulated an influx of settlers. The first post office opened in 1925.[7]
In 1943, Picture Butte became a village, and it attained town status in 1961 with a population of 978.
The Canadian Sugar Factory closed in 1978 and resulted in the loss of tax revenues and employment opportunities to the town. Industrial activity consists of small service, warehousing and wholesaling industries.
Scholten farms
The town annexed approximately 165 acres (0.67 km2) in 1991, significantly changing the town's boundary since the general municipal plan of 1980.[8]
A number of farms and properties in the Picture Butte area have changed and adapted over time; for example, in 2016, the Natural Resources Conservation Board approved Scholten Farms' request to convert swine feeders to cattle feeders.[9]
In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, the Town of Picture Butte had a population of 1,930 living in 689 of its 729 total private dwellings, a change of 6.6% from its 2016 population of 1,810. With a land area of 3.02 km2 (1.17 sq mi), it had a population density of 639.1/km2 (1,655.2/sq mi) in 2021.[3]
In the 2016 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, the Town of Picture Butte recorded a population of 1,810 living in 672 of its 706 total private dwellings, a 9.7% change from its 2011 population of 1,650. With a land area of 2.85 km2 (1.10 sq mi), it had a population density of 635.1/km2 (1,644.9/sq mi) in 2016.[10]
Attractions
As of 2023, Picture Butte has an art gallery, three schools, three churches, a sports complex, a community league, a museum and a historical village.[11]
Governance
Picture Butte's first mayor John M. Gibbons stands with Alberta Premier Ernest Manning in 1946
The current Picture Butte town council was elected on October 18, 2021 in the 2021 Alberta municipal elections.[12] As of 2023, the Mayor of Cathy Moore and councilors include Henry deKok, Teresa Feist, Cynthia Papworth and Crystal Neels.[13]
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