Mary Bond Collection: Edmonton's River Valley, 1946

Date: 1946

The following pictures are of members of the first four-year degree course in Education at University of Alberta in 1946.

We were all freshmen in this course. Most went on to graduate in 1949 – some later and some not at all.

The pictures illustrate people in Edmonton enjoying an outdoor activity, a hot dog roast on the beautiful riverbanks.

The area was identified as the “The Pines”. The only information I could get on this area was from an article in the U. of A. New Trail publication, probably in 2000. To quote the article by Zanne Cameron – “Growing up on Campus”, “Hiking down the Whitemud Creek was a favorite activity, as was berry picking either in the strawberry fields of the University farm or for saskatoons in “The Pines” (the area that’s now developed into Groat Road)”. I hiked down there recently to see if there was any sign of pines – alas no, but there was maybe a nod to what the area had been. There is a planting of pines along the approach to Groat Bridge.