This summer, the Town of Picture Butte officially celebrates its centennial in August during Jamboree Days.
This week, to commemorate the Town’s first Post Office, the Picture Butte Centennial Committee will unveil a plaque.
Committee President Boyd Folden says originally, the Post Office was east of Picture Butte.
“Due to some unforeseen circumstances that closed down in 1923 and would re-establish itself in 1926,” Folden notes.
According to Folden, Picture Butte was named after a butte, or hill in the middle of the prairie. “It was visible from miles around. That hill is not there anymore. It has been whittled down and used for road construction and for the reservoir that housed water for the sugar factory built in 1935.”
Folden adds there are three factors that put Picture Butte on the map.
“Number one was a post office,” Folden explains. “Then the Lethbridge Northern Irrigation District. In 1923, they started construction of the spillways for water for irrigation purposes for the farmers. That’s what put the farming industry on the map.”
In 1925, Folden recalls, the Canadian Pacific Railway built rail lines into Picture Butte. “Then we could sell the commodities and get them to market through the railroad.”
The plaque being erected in front of the Post Office was designed and made to be put on a pedestal.
“It’s basically a hundred years of history in about three to four hundred words. It was a fairly tough job to do, but every word means something. There will be a QR code at the bottom of the plaque. It has pictures of the old Post Office and of the new Post Office and a picture of the first bank Picture Butte had. There’s a picture of the sugar factory, some of the elevators, and the old Town Hall and the new Town Hall,” Folden explains.
In August, Picture Butte will be hosting an enhanced Jamboree Days. “It’s going to be Jamboree Days on steroids,” Folden jokes.
“We’re having a huge fireworks display. We’re having a street dance,” adds Folden. “Over in the park is going to be where our Legacy Project is going to be.”
One of the obstacles the Committee had while researching the history of Picture Butte was the lack of photos and information.
“My message to the seniors is to tell their children and grandchildren if they’re taking pictures or if you’ve got a story to tell, write it down. If you’re taking pictures, put the names of the people who are in the picture or where the picture was taken,” Folden says.
