Wildwood dates to 1908 and like many towns in western Canada it was founded with the coming of the railway. That line was part of the Grand Trunk Pacific’s transcontinental route but since about the 1920s it has belonged to Canadian National Railways. The trains come long, often and fast.

Wildwood was originally called Junkins, after a railway official, but in 1929 it was changed to what is used today. The first hotel in Junkins was built around 1910, so just shortly after the railway came through. Interestingly it was not located close to the tracks but rather a couple blocks away.

Many old hotels we have documented were built by the rail line for a reason and that was to capture all that railway business. Everyone came and went by train once, and this made it a desirable location. Still, one could do well elsewhere in town.

The original hotel was expanded upon many times and when done, it was close in size to the one present day. It was also alike in form and similarly two stories tall.

This first hotel was called the Junkins and for a time post World War Two the name Jasper Highway Hotel was used. At the time the Yellowhead Highway (#16) passed by about a block to the south, but later a new alignment skirted the town completely.

The original hotel burned down in 1958 and it is a story we hear repeated often. In the old days, hotels going up in flames seemed a common occurrence.

The current hotel is on the same property as the first and given this newer incarnation is similar in size and shape suggests they reused the original foundation. We can not say for certain, however.

The first mention of a restaurant goes back to the 1930s, and while there is still one in the hotel today, it was closed at the time of our visit. There is no one to run it (staffing is a reoccurring problem too) but we were told that they are looking for an operator.

The current hotel has had many owners over the years and a quick count suggests well over a dozen.

The Wildwood Hotel bar, known as the Silver Spur Saloon, champions the local music scene and on the night of our visit there was a band rocking the house. The Silver Spur seems to be a popular spot with the motorcycling fraternity and hosts many events to attract riders. A large grassy space adjacent to the hotel (under the Wildwood Hotel mural) is sometimes used as a beer garden for special events.

Our server Gladys recently celebrated a half century on the job and shows little signs of slowing down. Her daughter Cathy works here too and was also helping the night of our visit.

Gladys was the first bar-maid at the Wildwood Hotel and prior to this all staff were men. Male servers were common during the Beer Parlour era, but this later changed with the relaxing of rules.

The Wildwood Hotel bar once had a separate Ladies and Escorts entrance when it was constructed and this lasted into late into the 1960s. It was common at the time for bars to be segregated by gender and the rules stated ladies had to be accompanied by a male.

The west end of the building is a recent addition and dates to 1991. It houses the liquor store and laundry, plus allowed a few more rooms to be added upstairs. A distinctive line is visible on the exterior of the building marking where old and new meet.

A relatively recent advertisement for the Wildwood Hotel lists the following: Laundry Mat [sp], cafe, bar, hair salon, liquor store and rooms with satellite TV and internet. “Our goal is to make you feel like this is your home away from home.”

Wildwood has decreased in population in recent years and is down from a high of about 450 in the 1960s. It is a Hamlet now, but in the past, when the population was larger, it held village status. Small town shrink, while larger centres grow and grow.

Wildwood, Alberta: Population about 250, located in Yellowhead County and it is 120km west of Edmonton.