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For information on these topics click on the link.
For more historical information, please visit the Highlands Historical Society website.
The following feature articles were written and photographed by John Tidridge.. Commemorative Benches and Parks of the Highlands and Bellevue Communities - View Now 112 Avenue Business History - View Now
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Highlands History It all started in 1898 when Edmonton businessman John Alexander McDougall had a dream to build a subdivision he called “McDougall Heights.” From his plan grew today’s Highlands community, one of Edmonton’s most richly historic places, home to a high concentration of residences and commercial buildings dating from before the First World War. The neighbourhood is bounded by Ada Boulevard to the south and 118 Avenue to the north between 50 Street and 67 Street. In the 1880s, the area was part of River Lots 32 and 34, and owned by brothers James and George Gullion, former Fort Edmonton boat builders. McDougall, who was twice Edmonton mayor, bought the land in 1898, and in 1910 he hired William J. Magrath and Bidwell A. Holgate as land brokers. They envisioned the neighbourhood as a wealthy suburb for the city's growing middle and upper classes. Like many developers in the early 1900s, Magrath and Holgate sold lots to buyers, who would then build houses at their own expense. To ensure the area would attract the well-to-do, they mapped out large house lots and slapped a $2,500 minimum on any building permits.
A contest was held to name Edmonton's newest "high class neighbourhood," and the winning entry got $50 in gold. Magrath and Holgate launched a vigorous advertising campaign, aimed at convincing people that the newly named Highlands – overlooking the North Saskatchewan River – wasn't too far removed from the amenities of the big city. Hoping to spur sales, the development company built 28 homes starting in 1911. That year, Highlands was annexed in by the City of Edmonton, and then came city services including electricity, sidewalks, water, telephones and the coveted streetcars, which trundled out from downtown along 112th Avenue.
Magrath and Holgate built mansions overlooking the river valley on Ada Boulevard, named for Magrath's wife. Magrath’s mansion was reported to be worth $76,000 in 1912, a staggering amount of money for the time, while Holgate's, just to the east, was valued at $49,000. The boom went bust in 1914, new construction screeched to a halt and many of the neighbourhood's homes were foreclosed. It wasn't until after the Second World War that substantial new in-fill development began to happen in the Highlands.
Today the neighbourhood remains one of Edmonton’s most popular residential areas for the same reasons it was so successful in 1910. It is a magnificent neighbourhood of large lots, gracious houses, big trees, and beautiful river views – all within a short distance of central Edmonton. Highlands endures as a close-knit place where people know their neighbours, watch out for each other and take pride in their treasured little haven of history.
William Magrath's favourite sports were curling and lawn bowling. Bidwell Holgate's two favourite "recreations" were curling and motoring. It is therefore not surprising to find a $9,000 curling rink being built by the Magrath-Holgate Company in 1912.
It was located on the northeast corner of 113 Avenue and 62 Street. Magrath-Holgate owned this property until June 1922, when like most of the rest of the block, it passed to the City of Edmonton under tax sale. Later, the city acquired the remaining privately-owned lots ot complete the park. Information and Images from the Highlands Historical Walking & Driving Tour. Highlands Community League Hall The Highlands Community League was formed from the Highlands Parent-Teacher Association in 1921. In its first year, bowling greens and a baseball diamond were build, and a skating rink was operated on local tennis courts in the winter. The League had ambitions for a new, "larger facility - a step up from its present clubhouse". With prominent citizens such as A.U.G. Bury (see #11) on the executive, this seemed an attainable goal. However, lease problems, the Great Depression, and WW II succeeded on another to delay the project.
In the late 1940s a new clubhouse was finally built. Adby Demolition donated material salvaged from an internment camp in southern Alberta. The "Highlands Community league Memorial Centre" was named in honour of "local soldiers who were killed in WW II." The 1912 clubhouse was removed in the early 1950s and a second new building, with change rooms on the ground floor and a members' lounge and caretaker's residence upstairs, was begun in 1954 and opened in 1957. Both later structures are still standing. The Highlands Community League provided educational, recreational and self-government opportunities to Highlanders. Today it continues to do so for a population in excess of 1200 people. Information and Images from the Highlands Historical Walking & Driving Tour. The formation of the "Edmonton Highland School District", actually Beverly School District #2922, was announced in September 1910, just a few days before The Highlands went on the market. Two wood frame buildings were erected that fall. Once was a standard plan "Cottage School" with a classroom on each of its two floors, broad steps leading to the front entry, and a hipped roof topped with a flagpole.
When The Highlands joined Edmonton in 1911, the developers and the city agreed to build a new elementary school. A bid of $144,440 for the building was accepted in August 1913. WWI intervened, however, and construction stopped at the first floor. To cope with growing enrolment, another wood structure was build near the cottage school, and the first floor of the new school was used after 1916. The Highlands School was finished in 1920, at a total cost of $210,722. Upon completion, the second floor served as Edmonton's first teacher's college until 1923.
Early classes could be large: a 1912-13 Grade 1 and 2 class contained 78 pupils. In spite of the large classes, the unfinished building, and the stress of being at war, the school carried on. In 1915, a garden was organized as a patriotic effort. The principal and janitor erected a fence from materials supplied by the Board, and teachers and students tended the garden. In the 1920's students began staying for the upper grades, creating a shortage of high school classrooms. In response, Highlands was expanded to include intermediate grades in 1928, and in 1964 it was converted to a Junior High School to deal with the "baby boom" population. The Collegiate Gothic Style Highlands School is a twin of the King Edward School in Strathcona. Both were designed by School Board architect, George Turner. A steel and concrete structure underlies the brick and stone exterior. The crenellated parapets and central tower, oriel window over the main entry, and tudor arches over many of the windows and doors are characteristic of the style. Despite later additions, the school's main facade retains its original characters. Information and Images from the Highlands Historical Walking & Driving Tour. The 112 Avenue business area has a large history dating back from the early 1900's. is large one. John Tidridge was gracious enought to do the research and to provide photos to the Highlands Community League newsletter and website. The community league that started in Highlands in 1921 provided some recreational opportunities for the residents in the form of a baseball diamond, lawn bowling green and then later a curling rink and an outdoor hockey rink were developed. The Virginia Park Community league started in 1920 and members apparently cleared off sections of the river to play hockey and skate, it later became the Bellevue Community League in 1940. The collapse of the building boom during the First World War caused a serious set back in the residential development of the communities of Highlands and Bellevue. Along with the flood of 1915 the residential lots on the bottom land would not be developed and were taken over by the city. In In the spring of 1929 the first 9 holes were laid out and construction started using horses pulling plows and scrapers to shape the ground. May 8th , 1930 was opening day when Mayor Ambrose Bury and the Lieutenant Governor William Egbert cut the ribbon. Stunt flyer Vic Horner in Wop May's bi plane tried unsuccessfully to drop golf balls on the first green to start the play. Tea was served on the opening day in a tent by the first tee. This tent was used as the club house for the first summer along with a small pro shop but the first unheated club house was not completed until the summer of 1931 with a second floor added in 1938. The second nine holes were stared in 1930 and played on in 1931. When the hill from Ada Boulevard and
55 street towards the river was cleared and shaped in 1931 it became a favorite ski hill in the city of Edmonton and even had a temporary rope tow constructed by local residents that was operated for several winters. Ongoing physical improvements to the fairways and greens, club house, pro shop, maintenance buildings, irrigation systems, parking lots along with improved equipment for maintaining the course has been an investment in the club and the community. The club is pleased our lease with the City of Edmonton has been extended through financial negotiations until 2052. We are committed to working with the communities to provide a high quality recreation product that we can all be proud of. Highlands is one of the finest golf courses in the city of Edmonton, its members are proud of the course, its facilities and our relationship with the neighboring communities. Many of our members live in the neighborhoods surrounding the course, some lived her prior to joining the course and a number have moved into the area because of the course, all are proud of their course and to call Bellevue and Highlands's home. We look forward to this year of celebration and including the community in our activities. - Ted Smith |
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