The town of Eckville was named after Arthur Eckville, a settler who donated land to the community around 1908. It was originally located a short distance away to the northeast, but it did not last long there. With the coming of the railway around 1912, the town was relocated to be along the tracks.

“I’ve been in Eckville for about 35 years. Everybody’s calls me the sheriff. I’m just kind of a little bit of a character, I guess…I’m kind of a redneck.” – Malcolm

“It’s an old building, so there’s always something to do to work on, to repair, to upgrade, that sort of thing.” – Billy Zee.

“If you weren’t here by about 5 o’clock in the evening, you could not get a chair. It was just packed….wall-to-wall.” – Helen (speaking of a busier past here)

This line was the Canadian Northern’s (later Canadian National’s) branch to Nordegg and the coal mines of the front ranges. When the coal traffic ended in the 1950s (and the western end of the line pulled up), the moving of agricultural products took over. Eckville once had several grain elevators to store and ship out what was grown in the area.

Later, oil and gas products, particularly from the Rocky Mountain House area, also played a role in keeping the rail line active.

Eckville’s population grew to be around 100 in the 1920s. Near the time of the second world war it stood at about 300 and by the 1970s increased to double that. Today the population sits at about 1000 and largely it is thanks to the booming oil and gas sector.

“It’s quiet now, a lot busier then. Lynne here is probably as good a bartender as you’re ever going to find.” – Malcolm (on knowing the hotel for 30+ years).

“Malcolm, can you stay still for about half a second? He (Rob) needs a little bit of time.” – Chris assisting with a view camera shot. “I’ll count three and then hold still for half a second.” – Rob. (it sounds easier than it is).

The town gained village status in 1921 and on Canada Day 1966, it became a town.

The Eckville Hotel dates to 1928 or 1929 (reports differ slightly) and it replaced an earlier hotel on the same lot, which had burned down. That fire took out most of the buildings on the east side of downtown.

“Then I became the mayor of Eckville. And I’m also a retired hairdresser. The Clancy boy, we raised a whole bunch of money for a good cause and I permed his beard. He wanted that done before we cut it off. Brought the clippers in and the money went for cancer.” – Helen (Clancy owned the hotel for a time).

Hotels going up in flames is a subject that comes up with alarming regularity during our research and more than anything, this seemed to be the biggest danger facing such an establishment.

The previous hotel dates back to the early days and it is not clear if it was originally constructed in present day Eckville, or if it was moved from the original settlement. The history book is not clear enough to say for sure. In the 1920s it used the name Mountain View Hotel and this carried over to the new building for a time.

“It would be an absolute moneymaker. There’s no place else in town to have breakfast. Right, and breakfast is a big part of people’s day.” – Billy Zee (lamenting the closing of the hotel restaurant).

The Eckville Hotel once occupied a strategic location near the most important intersection in town. So near the corner of 50^th Avenue and 50^th Street in this case (one lot away as it turns out). This was always where the train station was located… back when it mattered. People originally came and went by train.

“It finally went to having strippers at the hotel. So they had male strippers and they had female strippers. One night a big guy got after one, went up in the hotel room looking for the male stripper because I think he had touched his sister. He chased him out the window and down the highway.” – Helen (many small town hotels had a stripper phase).

Many small towns followed the 50^th and 50^th pattern for the centre of downtown, although the use of Main and Railway is also common. When you saw either, it meant you were in the heart of the business district and a hotel, stores and the train station were not far away. Usually.

Regionally noted singer Guido D’Amico (the Italian Cowboy) co-owned the hotel with a brother for about a decade beginning in the mid 1960s. He was known throughout Central Alberta , played many venues, and could be heard on radio back in the day. He even recorded some 78s records in the 1950s.

“Well, probably the first time I came into this bar would have been when I turned 21. I couldn’t sneak in here because everybody knew me. So I’m 77 years old, so you can kind of do the math. It was a while ago, a day or two ago.” – Helen.

“We’ve donated probably, I’m going to say, well over $30,000 to the community.” – Billy Zee (speaking of charity meat draws held at the hotel).

There’s been a good number of owners over the years and interviewee Helen kindly provided us with a list (look for her quote in the post). Billy Zee, along with a silent partner, have owned it for two decades now. Billy and his wife manage it, but having been at it for a long time now, they’re looking to sell.

“I do know of the people that owned it, and there was Jack Coughlin, Harry Lowe, Bert Thompson, B. Dennett, Bill Marsh, Guido D’Amico, and then Val Clancy owned it…Guido lived upstairs.” – Helen.

For most of its history, there has been a restaurant attached to the Eckville Hotel but it closed down a few years prior to our visit. The hotel’s owner is looking to try and re-open with new management. Due to this there is presently no food service at the bar but that could change.

There is a liquor store out back. Many small town hotels do a good sideline business in take-away booze.

Guido D’Amico, I probably, I knew him the best…the D’Amico boys would get quite upset with me because I’d dance on the tables.” – Helen. “Were you planning on doing that tonight?” – Chris (said while smiling). “No, I can’t…too old…but I could drink a shooter and do a backflip off of there at the same time..” – Helen (playing along with the gag).

The Eckville Hotel no longer rents rooms in the traditional short term sense, but like many older establishments, they are used as affordable social housing. This is something we see all the time too.

In recent memory there have been a number of notable robberies at the hotel and there is an account of one below. The subject also came up during interviews with the owner and chit-chats with patrons.

“Two male suspects, one armed with a silver pistol and one with a cattle prod made off with some cash and left the hotel on foot.” – Red Deer Express, December 28, 2016 “We’ve had four robberies? Yep.” – Billy Zee.

Eckville, Alberta: Population about 1000 and it is located in Lacombe County some 45km west of Red Deer.