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It was a love of Ireland that brought the name Ardenode to Alberta in 1911.
As historian Merrily Aubrey explains, this was the name applied to a railway
siding between Calgary and Drumheller.
The Canadian Northern Railway roadbed was only partially completed when
the railway was bought from the Jensen brothers in 1910. George Davis
started construction of the general store in 1911, with the help of his twin
sons Roger and Tony.
Major Davis petitioned for a post office to be part of his general store.
Well, the store wasn’t really built in time, so for a while at least, His
Majesty’s mail service was conducted out of a tent.
Major Davis needed a name for the siding and his post office, and he looked
to his two young sons for help in that matter.
Ardenode came from a list of 14 Irish names that had been submitted by
the Davis twins to the Post Office Department and that was the one the post
office chose.
The Davis family itself had come from County Kildare where the children
had attended school in the village of Kilcullen. So there is the Irish
connection there. Major Davis had run the estate of the local nobleman and
had served as a veterinarian during the Boer War.
The Post Office at Ardenode had a long life, officially operating from 1915
until it closed in November of 1959.
On the Heritage Trail,
I’m Cheryl Croucher.
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