Cowley, Alberta

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The village of Cowley is located in sunny south-western Alberta, nestled between the Rocky Mountains and the Alberta foothills.  Cowley is just minutes from Pincher Creek and one hour from Lethbridge. Cowley is in cattle country, where the majority of the population resides in the country and their livelihood depends on the cattle and agriculture industries.

The village council describes the village ‘as the place to be’ and an ideal location to live and do business.  Cowley is extremely accessible as it is located on Highway 3, the major route to southern B.C.. This has given Cowley the opportunity to boost the local economy through tourists stopping in.

What sets Cowley apart from other villages is its unique surroundings and new industry developments.  Travellers passing by are able to witness a rare and spectacular view. They are met by wind plant generators with huge turbines 24 to 43 meters high.  These wind plants were the first in Canada and have put Cowley on the map.  The Canadian Energy Corp. and Cowley Ridge Wind Power Inc. currently operate the local power plants.

The community is well documented in Canadian history based on a historic frontier event that occurred just 4 km north of Cowley. In 1867 twelve settlers with their wagons of were bound for Oregon. They heard of the gold strike near the Fort Saskatchewan and decided to take a detour through Blackfoot tribe territory. They progressed as far as Massacre Butte where they were confronted by the natives lead by "Medicine Calf" and there met their demise.

Cowley began in the 1880s with ranchers moving into the area. The Garnett brothers are sited as the first settlers.  This was followed by two large waves of French Quebec immigrants in 1882 and 1887. These groups began cultivating the land and planting crops. Based on the large French speaking settlement, the area became known as the “French Flats” in 1887.  In 1892, James Carney began referring to the flats as “Cow-lea”. The name became official in 1900 with the naming of the Cowley Post Office. 

In 1898 the CPR arrived and in 1899 a bridge was built over the Oldman River. This increased travel, creating more settlement and local business sector developments.  From 1903 to 1904 both the Cowley Hotel and Alberta Hotel were established. The year 1908 brought the first school, and by 1912 the village had expanded to include two butcher shops, many churches, the Union Bank, and Pettits’ Restaurant. 

In 1915, 300 Russian Doukhobors, lead by Nick and Mary Maloff, moved into the vicinity of Cowley.  Even though the Cowley Commune was self-sustaining and did not directly rely on Cowley, the community benefited from the Doukhobors presence as they established a large grain elevator in Cowley.  By 1917 the commune had over 13,000 acres and by 1932 it had assets valued at $605,000. Unfortunately, the commune was hit hard by the 1930’s depression and in 1938 it went bankrupt.

Local Cowley institutions have had very bad experiences with fires.  In 1909 the Alberta hotel was destroyed and in 1914 the village suffered a large fire that destroyed almost everything, including the Post Office, the Telephone Exchange, Pettits’ Restaurant and C.N. Cyr’s boucherie. In 1933 the Cowley School and the Cowley Hotel were destroyed by fire.

Cowley’s main industry base is agriculture and lumber.  With many ranches and farms in the vicinity, the nearby populace relies on Cowley to service their daily needs. The population in 1996 was 277 people, and this declined to 225 people by the 2001 census. The majority of  residents are adults, with the largest proportions of the population being 35-44 years of age (15.55%) and 45-54 years of age (15.55%). As of 2001, the majority of Cowley residents were employed in business and community services (21.1%), manufacturing (21.1%), retail and wholesale (15.8%) with agriculture being the lowest at 10.5%. Most individuals involved in agriculture live on farms outside of Cowley.

The village of Cowley experienced a huge setback in 2002 with the closure of the Johnson Brothers lumber mill, a local foundation since 1967.  With this the village has lost a part of its industrial base and families have left the community. Before the closing of the mill, 21.1% of Cowley residents were employed in the manufacturing industry.

However, Cowley is slowly recovering with the aid of a developing manufacturing industry.  Two local sandstone quarries, Windmill Sandstone Quarry and 5’s Enterprises are becoming a vital part of Cowley’s economic base. Currently, Cowley has a small number of businesses in the township and many more scattered across the area.  Cowley does not offer overnight accommodations, but there are many bed & breakfasts nearby and the Lundbreck Hotel 6 km away. Cowley does not have a local school and students are bussed to Lundbreck.

Local and surrounding businesses as of June 2003:

Resources

Business data sources include: Alberta Business-to-Business Directory, Albertafirst.com, WorldWeb Travel Guide (Discover Alberta), Google Search, Albertadirectory.com, Albertaswfirst.com, Crowsnest-highway.ca, and Superpages Telephone Directory

Wilson, D.M.  (2003).  “Cowley”. Crowsnest Highway: South Western Canada’s Information Resource website.  Retrieved on June 16, 2003 from www.crowsnest-highway.ca.

(2001).  Cowley Community Profile.  AlbertaFirst Website.  Retrieved on May 19, 2003 from www.albertafirst.com