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Community Information
Brooks is centrally located between Calgary, Lethbridge and Medicine Hat in the heart of southeast Alberta and the Canadian Badlands. Brooks is located at the junction of the well-traveled Secondary Highway #36 and the TransCanada, Highway #1.
Just to the north is Dinosaur Park, a World Heritage Site and the world's largest deposit of late crustaceous period dinosaur fossils. To the south is Lake Newell, the largest lake in southern Alberta and a major attraction for the camper, fisherman, boater and sailor.
Bounded on the north by the Red Deer River and on the south by the Bow River, the area surrounding Brooks is known for great fishing and sites to see include: the Brooks Aqueduct, a National/Provincial historical site; the Crop Diversification Center South, a research center that supports the horticultural industry; Brooks and District Museum, representing life in this area from 1900 to 1950; Lake Newell, one of the country's largest man made lakes; and Dinosaur Park, a World Heritage Site and home of the field station of the Royal Tyrrell Museum.
Brooks operates as the retail and service sector for both the City of Brooks and the surrounding region, servicing approximately 30,000 people. As a regional service center, Brooks has a wide range of urban amenities, retail services and a large number of hotels and motels.
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The City of Brooks is one of fastest growing communities in Alberta with a multi-cultural flavor unique to other municipalities in Alberta boasting a population of 13,581. Brooks is steadily growing with residential and commercial development and we’re proud to announce the completion of our new Fire Hall, a wide range of restaurants, grocery and retail outlets plus educational facilities including the Medicine Hat College, two high schools, 3 junior high schools, 4 elementary schools and a Francophone school.
Brooks has a strong community spirit where people work together to continuously enhance our quality of life. One prime example is Communities in Bloom where the City of Brooks has won 4 times consecutively in our population category. Brooks is now competing at the national level. Residents volunteer their time and together with employees from the City of Brooks this program has been very successful |
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Originally, the area of Brooks was used as a buffalo hunting ground for the Blackfoot and Crow natives. After Treaty 7 was signed in 1887, homesteaders moved into the area to begin dry land farming. The arrival of the Canadian Pacific Railroad saw more settlers move to the area of Brooks. By 1904, Canada Post was interested in putting a post office in the settlement, however the area was still unnamed. By a Canada Post sponsored contest, the new area was named after Noel Edgell Brooks, a Canadian Pacific Railway Divisional Engineer from Calgary.
On July 14th, 1910, the Village of Brooks was formally established and became a Town a year later.
To encourage immigration and growth into the region in the early part of the century, the Canadian Pacific Railway began the construction of major irrigation works. These works included the two mile long Brooks Aqueduct, constructed over 2½ years and completed in 1915. In 1935, the C.P.R. transferred control of these works to local farmers and the Eastern Irrigation District was formed. Irrigation has allowed Brooks to become a service centre for highly effective livestock, grain and vegetable producing industries.
In more recent years Brooks has experienced growth due to the oil and gas industry. The late 70’s and early 1980’s saw Brooks’ population grow from 5,000 to around 8,000. The oil and gas industry, and those activities that provide services to oil and gas exploration are still a large driving force in the continued growth of Brooks. The Town’s population in 1996 for the first time exceeded 10,000, due in large part to expansion at Lakeside IBP meat packing plant, making Brooks the largest Town in Alberta |
| History of Brooks |
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