Early Years: 1882-1913

 

Glenora began as part of River Lot 2, a parcel of land in the newly created Dominion of Canada.  Malcolm Alexander Groat, a Scottish employee of the Hudson’s Bay Company at Fort Edmonton staked his claim in 1870 and was granted title in 1887 within Treaty 6 First Nations and Metis territory.   

 

 

Settlement around Fort Edmonton:  1882.

 

 

Certificate of title granted to Malcolm Groat for River Lot 2.

Source: City of Edmonton Archives

 

 

1903:  Malcolm Groat, shown after his retirement, a respected and prominent citizen of the City of Edmonton.

Source: Provincial Archives of Alberta

 

 

As Malcolm Groat developed his business interests, he saw an opportunity to profit by selling off all but 20 acres from his original 900 acres to a developer, William G. Tretheway.

 

 

1906:  Alberta becomes a province and Edmonton is selected as the Capital City in 1906.

Tretheway sells his land to James Carruthers, a wealthy grain merchant from Montreal.

Optimism fuels land speculation and James Carruthers envisions an exclusive subdivision west of the Groat Ravine and bounded on the south by the N. Saskatchewan River.