Edgerton Alberta was founded about 1909 and that is a year or so after the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway arrived in the area. This was the firm’s transcontinental main line, and it became a Canadian National Railways property around 1920. It is still CN’s today and sees a lot of rail traffic.

To those of you that follow our documentary project, this is a familiar story, as virtually every town on the prairies was founded with coming of the railway. The trains came and the almost concurrently the towns sprang up.

Village status for Edgerton; so with threshold population of 200, was reached in 1917, and it has gradually increased ever since. Census numbers show it at about 250 in 1940s and then it grew to 300 in the 1950s and upward to about 350 in the 1970s. Today it has a population approaching 400.

Edgerton still has a number of businesses in the downtown area and seems to be doing reasonably well. That is in comparison to some of the other towns visited by the Beer Parlour Project, that have seen a steady, if not alarming decline of open stores and shops.

Edgerton is known as “the friendly oasis” and this likely explains why the hotel uses the Oasis name.

“Hi, I’m Wanda, and I am the owner of the Edgerton Oasis Hotel since 2003. And fun fact, this was my first job when I was 15 in the Oasis Café (which is still open)…in 1985, this was my first job. Well, I was making $4.50 at the time, and then when I turned 18, I switched over to the bar side, because I got paid an extra dollar an hour, so I made $5.50. Plus tips. Then I left to go to hairdressing school when I was 21, because I didn’t want to be a waitress all my life. I’ve come full circle now.” – Wanda and her long association with the hotel.

Agriculture and natural resources are the main employers in the area, as is the case with many small prairie towns we have visited. The community is named after HH Edgerton and he was an executive with the Grand Trunk Pacific.

Historical documents do not provide a full history of the hotel, but still, we will do our best to make sense of it all. Different hotels are mentioned in the book, as are some owners, but it is not always with proper context. It’s rather confusing, but we do know the hotel dates to 1910, however.

It is situated right across the street from the long demolished railway station. Many of the small town hotels visited by the Beer Parlour Project have a story that is similar and when built were economically tied to the railway. It is where the people came and went, so a prime, and desired location then.

In most small towns the key intersection, right down by the tracks, was either Railway Avenue and Main Street, or 50^th Avenue and 50^th Street, but In the case of Edgerton, the avenue fronting the railway is actually 49^th. So it is on 50^th and 49^th, which is a bit a break with convention.

“They would have all the beds upstairs in this one big room. Like a dormitory or something. They would push them all aside and they would host dances on the second floor. Because it was a wide open space up there.” – Wanda, on the early days of the hotel.

“Upstairs when we did some renovating in room 7, we removed the lath and plaster and we found an outside wall.” – Wanda, noting the hotel was expanded at some point.

Records suggest the the business operated as the Hotel Cecil in the beginning. There are and were a large number of “Cecil” hotels across the country, but we have yet to fully confirm a reason for the name. In all probability it traces back to a family of nobles and influential politicians back in England, called the Cecils.

The site of the Hotel Cecil in London was once the location of Cecil House, a mansion belonging to the family in the 1600s. Perhaps hotels in newly established towns out here on the frontier wanted this high class association?

What happened during the prohibition years, from 1916 to 1924 is unknown other than the establishment operated without the beer parlour. All the taps were turned off everywhere in the province. Perhaps the cafe, in combination with room rentals provided enough income to carry the business through these lean years.

There is a café in the hotel to this day and we can confirm the food is good and tasty.

“I live on site, and I want to keep this going for as long as I can. I enjoy it.” – Wanda

Have you seen a difference from 2003 to 2025? – Chris. “Huge, now you bring people in with food.” – Wanda, on the changing face of the business.

There was very limited phone service in Edgerton until the late 1930s and no entries in any local directories appearing for the hotel in any form until the following decade. A phone is essential today, but you could function without back then.

Beginning the 1930s, or perhaps a bit earlier it operated as the Laurie Hotel, although we could not find any explanation of the name.

There is the possibility the hotel was forced to close for a time during the Depression.

Phone records show it was #1 in the local directory, one they got a phone, and they advertised as having the only pay phone in the community. Not everyone had a line back then. If you had to make a call, you might as well stop in and have a beer too and this was probably good for business.

The hotel was briefly listed as the Empire Tavern in the early 1950s and directories show occasional lapses in entries part way into that same decade. That being said, it is entirely possible the hotel may have closed occasionally during this time.

“My friend Duane Hollenby passed away of cancer three years ago. He was a truck driver, yeah, and a very good friend, yeah. And so we commemorate…honour his death in doing a poker run.” – Wanda.

“We stole a bunch of chickens, we threw them in the back door and left, eh? And that caused an upraising, you know that, eh? Well, they didn’t know who it was, but they had an idea. That was funny, we threw these roosters in and everybody’s in here, oh, what the hell’s going on?” – Rodney & Doug in a tag team interview.

There is a long list of owners or operators over the years and although it numbers 15 plus by our count, it is certainly an incomplete list. A high turn over shows the challenges in operating such an establishment and some owners came and went so quickly, they barely registered.

By the late 1950s it operated as the Palm Hotel (palm, another oasis theme), and it kept that name right into the 1970s. Later that decade it became the Edgerton Oasis Hotel and has used the name ever since.

The hotel has been added to and altered over the years by a succession of owners. Presumably when constructed, and definitely present in the 1950s, and lasting into the 1970s, it had a flat topped false front. This is all based on historic photos.

The placement of windows and doors on the main floor remain the same as in the old photos, although the upper windows differ in look. Overall, in size and general appearance, it still “feels” the same.

Unlike many of the old hotels visited by the Beer Parlour Project, they still offer rooms at the Oasis. While not heavily promoted, they are mostly rented out longer term for industrial work crews and the like.

“My goal was to own this, my dream was to own this place by the time I was 30. I came back when I was 35 (in 2003). They had me as a manager, and they were offering another gentleman a lease to purchase deal. Okay. And I said to Bill, if that falls through, would it be anything you would consider doing with me? And he said yes, and here we are, 22 years later.” – Wanda, on taking the plunge.

There was once a second hotel in Edgerton called the Commercial, but it burned down in 1929. We have not been able to confirm the exact location, but it is suggest it was one block away on 50^th Avenue.

Our visit to the Edgerton Oasis Hotel coincided with the local grad celebration and it happened right next door at the community hall. Spill over from that event meant the bar was often quite busy.

Edgerton, Alberta: Population around 400 and it is located in Beaver County, 35km southeast of Wainwright, and 90km southwest of Lloydminster.