Self-Guided Tour of Mayerthorpe

Beginning at the Mayerthorpe Public Library/ Fallen Four Memorial Park

On March 3, 2005, 4 local RCMP were killed in an ambush a few miles northeast of Mayerthorpe.  This facility was officially opened on July 4, 2008 to honor their memory and the memories of all peace officers killed in the line of duty.  In 2021 The Mayerthorpe Public Library moved in to this building.  The facility operates as the Mayerthorpe Public Library and Tourist Information Centre.

Continue west and north.

Pleasant View Lodge was built in 1960 and, at that time, was a state-of-the-art seniors facility accommodating 40 people.  Some of the rooms are only 110 sq.ft, very small by today’s standards.  The facility was replaced in 2011.  In June, 2012, it became the home of the Baptist Church.

Extendicare Nursing Centre was built in the 1960’s and accommodates 50 people.  The beautifully developed park area is enjoyed by the residents.

The Diamond Centre was built in the 1970’s and can accommodate 485 people.

The first swimming pool was built in 1967 as a Centennial project but, by 2010, no longer met health-inspection standards, so had to be shut down and has been replaced with a bigger and better facility. The original arena, built in about 1972, burned down in 2008 and a new one replaced it in May, 2011.

Turn right.  The house on the right at 5303-50th Avenue was the RCMP detachment from 1967 to the early 1980’s.

Turn right onto 53rd Street and proceed 1 block south. On the left at 4721-53 Street is the oldest house in town, built in the early 1920’s. 

Turn left and head east on 46th Avenue toward Crockett (50th) Street.  A couple of blocks ahead on the left at 5015-46th Avenue is one of the old pioneer houses.

Turn left onto Crockett and then turn left again onto 48th Avenue.  One block ahead, the house on the right at 5102-48th Avenue was the RCMP detachment from 1952 to 1967.

Proceed to 52nd Street (Denny Hay Drive). Many of the houses along the service road were moved in from elsewhere—Rochfort Bridge, Greencourt, farms.

Turn right.  On the left at 4806-52nd Avenue was the site of the former Anglican Church.  The building, which had been converted into a private residence, burned down in 2012.

Dundee School Park at the corner across from the Curling Rink:  Dundee School was built a couple of kilometers east of the Townsite in 1912.  It was moved to this site in 1926 and served as the elementary school until 1958.  The building is now situated on a farm north of town.

Continue north on 52nd Street.  The house on the right at 5005-52nd Street was the former Wheat Pool House.

Cross the RR tracks and head 1 more block north.  On the left at 5262-52nd Street, the Kinsmen Meeting Room was the former medical clinic.  The Mayerthorpe Hospital was located just to the south of it.

Turn right onto 53rd Avenue.  The house on the left at 5112-53 Avenue has some of the town’s oldest trees on their property.

Continue to 48th Street and turn right.  Proceed to the ‘T’ intersection.

The Grain Elevator is a designated “Historical Site”.  This building has received a new owner in 2014 and they would like to restore it back to a working elevator.

Turn right and proceed one block.  The house at 4817-52nd Avenue (behind the tall hedge and, therefore, invisible) was built in the early 1920’s.  The trees and hedges were planted at that time also. At Crockett (50th) Street, turn left.

On the right (west) side of 50th:

The Hub Hotel was built in 1919 and was known as the “Bish Hotel”.  The original building still houses the bar and the rooms above it.

Petals Plus, one block ahead, used to be a pool hall on the main floor with a dance hall upstairs.  It had to be very well-built to NOT collapse!

PizzaNapoli was built in the 1920’s as the “John George Telephone Exchange”

Crockett Auto was built in 1949 as “Pioneer Motors”.

Continue south.  Then turn around at the Field Store intersection and head north along Crockett (50th) Street.

On the right (east side) the “Friendship Garden” was begun by David Foisier who asked people to donate perennials to plant there as a community project.  Volunteers now look after this garden.  In 2013 the existing flowers were moved to the Truck Parking lot located at the South entrance to Mayerthorpe.

Crockett House Cafe at 4705-50th Street was built in 1935-36.

Two blocks further north, Mayerthorpe Hardware & Liquidators was built in 1940-41 as “Battagin’s Store”, a clothing and dry goods retailer.

The building at the NE corner of 50th &50th, was built in 1919-20 as the “Empire Café”.

Turn right onto 50th Avenue and then right again onto 49th Street.  The old “Baby Delivery” house is on the left at 4918-49th Street and the oldest willow tree is at 4914-49th Street.

Turn left onto 49th Avenue.  Continue east to Ellis Granley Park.  This park was named after Ellis Granley, a man who dedicated his life to sports and coaching.  He was named Mayerthorpe’s “Citizen of the Year” in 1973. In 2020 The park was rezoned and subdivided for new homes and is now named Park Ave. The park was redone to include adult outdoor exercise equipment.

Turn right at 44th Street and proceed around the back of the hospital. This Street was renamed Granley Drive in 2015.

On the left, just past the Elementary School, is the grey house.  This was the RCMP detachment in Rochfort Bridge from 1932 to 1952.  The RCMP were relocated to Mayerthorpe in 1952 and, eventually, the building followed, becoming a private residence.

On the right is the hospital’s “Garden of Love”, located in front of the Palliative Care Room.  It was planted in memory of Maria Rempel by her family.  Volunteers now tend it.

To the left is the new Pleasant View Lodge built in 2011, home to 51 residents.  The rooms are all 360 sq. ft, compared to the original’s 110 sq ft. rooms.  The seniors’ centre is attached on the east end.

Head back to Main Street.  Turn right and proceed to 48th Avenue.  Turn left and, at 51st Street, turn right.

Affordable Fashions, a second-hand store, it was the Legion Hall until 1992.

Next door to it, the house at 4809-51st Street was built in the early 1920’s.

One block further north is the site of the former “Beaver Lumber” from 1920 to 1974. This building was built in 1960.

THE END!  WE HOPE YOU ENJOYED THE TOUR!