Ritchie Community Hall
The Ritchie Community League established the current grounds as their formal community space with a skating rink in 1923. In 1945, the board discussed building a community hall and moving the RCL headquarters to an abandoned Gainers pasture in Mill Creek Ravine. However, the league voted against the move and established their first hall on the community grounds, a Texas hut purchased from the US Army Surplus. Though this structure was not ideal long-term, it served the league for the time being. By the early 1960s, the Hut was falling apart. The RCL drafted new plans for a hall, and by 1961, the new hall was constructed and ready for community rentals. However, the space was hardly large enough to accommodate the league's needs, and conversations about expansion began immediately. By the late 1970s, the RCL added changerooms for the skating rink, office space, and improved washrooms and a tennis court.To learn more: Episode 6 of A Little Bit Ritchie
Community League Playground Slide
9663 78 AvenueThe Ritchie slide is beloved for its towering height and perceived precariousness. Though the official construction date is unknown, the slide was likely built in 1946 as part of the Edmonton City Council’s plan to develop and improve playgrounds around the city.To learn more: Episode 6 of A Little Bit Ritchie
Ritchie School
9750 74 AvenueArchitect and School Board Building Commissioner George E. Turner designed the three-story red brick school, which opened in November 1913. Though architecturally stunning, the school had structural issues. It was built on a slough, which caused the basement to sink and spurred flooding in the first year. Ritchie School closed in 2008—only 89 students were enrolled. In 2009, École Joseph Moreau, the debut francophone junior high in Western Canada, occupied the space. Ritchie School was demolished in May 2020. To learn more: Episode 1 of A Little Bit Ritchie
Redeemer Lutheran Church
Though this structure officially opened on Sunday, May 30, 1954, the history of this Redeemer Lutheran began at the behest of local pioneer Mrs. Louise Sievers in 1928. Sievers longed for a Lutheran Sunday School in Ritchie and approached the Lutheran Synod about purchasing an abandoned Methodist Church near Ritchie School. The Synod agreed on one condition: Sievers organized a pilot Sunday School at her expense. In its first week, seventy-five children attended. Encouraged by their success, the Lutherans purchased an abandoned Methodist church, four city lots, and an organ. In 1954, Redeemer Lutheran broke ground on their new church. Sievers remained an active member of Redeemer Lutheran until her death on September 20, 1964. To learn more: Local historian Dane Ryksen’s chapter of A Little Bit Ritchie Episode 8
EY&P Bridge
76 Avenue & Mill Creek TrailThe wooden trestle bridge, built in 1902, stands as one of the final physical remains of the Edmonton Youkon and Pacific Railway. The EY&P was the first railway in Edmonton before its amalgamation with Strathcona and was affectionately called ‘the shortest railway with the longest name.’ While the railroad owners fantasized about extending the line up to the northern territories, only twelve kilometres of railway were ever constructed, and the line never stretched outside Edmonton’s city limits. In its prime, the EY&P distributed provisions to the industries in Mill Creek Ravine. To learn more: Episode 3 of A Little Bit Ritchie
Mill Creek Ravine Picnic Site
After the forceful removal of the Papaschase Cree, Mill Creek Ravine was a hotspot for local coal, brick, lumber, and meatpacking industries 1920s. The waste and runoff from these plants decimated the creek's ecosystem. When industry vacated the valley, local activist groups fought against a highway through the ravine and pushed to restore the area to its previous glory. Mainly through the efforts of the group Mill Creek Build a Park, portions of the ravine's wasteland were transformed into a manicured park and picnic spaces, while other sections were tidied of litter and left to thrive in their natural state. However, below the soil, traces of the industry's destruction remains. To learn more: Episode 4 of A Little Bit Ritchie
Daredevil One and Daredevil Two
53.514429, -113.473928Mill Creek Ravine has held a special place in children's hearts throughout history. Favourite recorded activities included squishing pennies on train tracks, biking, bush parties, tobogganing, and cross-country skiing. Children's perspectives of the Ravine were well documented by Mill Creek Build a Park, and demonstrate that youngsters coveted the Ravine as a place of escape and recreation. In the 1970s, children reported two dangerous tobogganing routes: Daredevil One and Daredevil Two. Fueled by adrenaline, white-knuckled children clung to their toboggans as they plummeted down the precarious slopes at breakneck speeds. To learn more: Episode 4 of A Little Bit Ritchie
Gainers Meatpacking Plant
7841-7937 96 StreetIn the 20th century, John Gainer established himself as one of the most prominent entrepreneurs in Strathcona. After immigrating from Ontario, John and his family settled into a home on Whyte Avenue, which doubled as a slaughterhouse. After the company outgrew their shop, John moved the plant to Mill Creek Ravine. Neighbourhood residents could not ignore the presence of Gainers massive slaughterhouse as it stretched over two blocks long and three stories high. The meatpacking industry supported Edmonton’s economy and workforce as Edmontionans from all areas of the city came to Ritchie to work at Gainers. Gainers was active in the Mill Creek Ravine until 1982 when the operation moved to Northeast Edmonton. To learn more: Episode 5 of A Little Bit Ritchie
Ritchie Tri-Plex
9821-9825 80 AveBuilt in 1913, at the end of the ‘Age of Optimism,’ this triplex represents early multi-unit housing and offers a glimpse into the lives of young, working-class men central to early Ritchie. Early residents of include miners like George Holt (1921-1925), CPR employees like Harry Mockford (1928), Gainers employees like Harold V. Clutton (1920) and tradespeople like James Waters (1917-1919). Throughout the decades, the Tri-Plex housed Ritchie’s working-class residents, and the structure serves as a reminder of the early labour force that defined Ritchie’s early years.
SCTV Polynesiantown and the Strathcona CPR Station
10122 81 AvenueIn 1908, the CPR constructed a train station in the area to welcome and support arriving travellers: The Strathcona CPR Station. The Edwardian-era station became known as the “End of Steel,” it was the furthest North the rail lines could extend without building a bridge over the North Saskatchewan River. The station provides a visible reminder of the strides in early local development and offers a glimpse into the first sights of Ritchie newcomers in the early 1900s. Though today condos block the view of the station from this vantage point, it is visible in the iconic shot from SCTV’s Polynesiantown episode. Second City Television (SCTV) was a Canadian sketch comedy program active from 1976-1984 that featured Eugene Levy, Catherine O’Hara, John Candy, and others. The show was shot and produced in Edmonton between 1980 and 1981 by CITV. SCTV was the first Canadian television program to air on American television.
Minchau’s Blacksmith Shop
8108 101 StreetThe Minchau family was essential in developing Edmonton's German community. In 1907 eighteen-year-old Adolf Minchau travelled from Germany to Strathcona to help his aunt and uncle with their farm. Simultaneously, Adolf apprenticed under a blacksmith. In 1911, Adolf opened a blacksmith shop at 7711-99 Street, where he was swaddled in the familiar cloth of his homeland; Ritchie was a bustling hub for German settlers. In 1920, Adolf purchased a parcel of land in West Ritchie, an industrial district east of the Strathcona CPR Station. Until recently, remnants of Adolf's original signage cast a ghostly shadow on the building's graffiti-embellished facade. Despite the best efforts of Heritage Forward, a local historical activist group, the structure did not receive provincial significance. In September 2020, Minchau's Blacksmith Shop was demolished.
Pre-War Housing
10036 80 Ave/10034 80 AveThis pair of 1933 homes represent the pre-war style of housing that identified Ritchie before the introduction of the now-identifiable post-war housing. In the early 1900s, the area known today as Ritchie was comprised of multiple subdivisions as the populations of Edmonton and Strathcona expanded and then amalgamated in 1912. Post-WWII, however, the city invested heavily in housing for returning soldiers, which changed the aesthetic and demographic of neighbourhoods like Ritchie. 1945 saw the construction of 200 houses in Ritchie by the Wartime Housing program. Three years later, Ritchie was primarily composed of returned soldiers and their families.
J.B. Allan Residence
9760 78 AvenueJames B. Allan became the Ritchie Community League's first President in 1922. Allan was an architect and Scottish immigrant who came to Canada in 1906. He lived across the street from the modern Ritchie Community Hall at 9760 78th Avenue and was an avid lawn bowler. Allan served only a short term as league President, as he and his family moved away from the city in 1923. The office of league president was transferred to D. Connell in early 1923 in preparation for Allan's departure.To learn more: Episode 2 of A Little Bit Ritchie
