Railways Communities
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When the Edmonton, Dunvegan and British Columbia Railway (EDBC) was built in 1915 communities on its route increased in importance. Those communities that were on the railroad route included Grande Prairie, Wembley, and High Prairie.
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After his successful trip in 1906, Anel Maynard Bezanson returned to Peace River to set up the town of Bezanson at the mouth of the Simonette River on the Smoky River. While he was sure the railroad would run there, his calculations were incorrect and the EDBC Railway ran north of his new community. The community of Bezanson continued to exist, but it did not become the grand centre of the local economy as had been planned.
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The new community of Bezanson suffered the same fate as Flying Shot Lake, Saskatoon Lake, Grouard, and Dunvegan, as they too were bypassed by the railroad.
To accommodate growing needs, the EDBC Railway was;)
extended to Beaverlodge, Hythe, and Pouce Coupe by 1929. Another line was completed by the EDBC Railway northward to Berwyn in 1922, while Fairview became a new town when the community saw the railroad arrive in 1928. The community of Waterhole was bypassed and it suffered as the focus turned to other railroad towns.
Communities developed where the railroad ran. These new communities became the centres for the economic activities that surrounded them. Those communities that were bypassed by the railroad either faded away or remained smaller than first hoped.