Morinville

Morinville is a small town located slightly north of St Albert along Highway 2.  It was settled in the later part of the 1800’s by Father Morin.  Father Morin was an Oblate missionary who brought many immigrants with him from France.  This migration was followed by more migrations from Germany and France, many of the families in the area still carry traditional names from these two countries.
 

There is a monument located in St Jean Baptiste Park (pictured above) that shows many of the names of the immigration to this area of Alberta.  The monument was once located in the town centre, but was moved to it’s current location at the start of 2000.  Town council felt it was a traffic hazard and was hard for people to understand it’s implication and read the monument without safety concerns being ignored.

The St Jean Baptiste Parish was built in Morinville in 1907 by the Roman Catholic church.  The parish as well as it’s convent (no longer in operation) was made into a historical landmark in 1975.  To celebrate the province’s 100th year, the church was remodelled to include a clock town and new landscaping.

According to the last census, the town has a population of around 7000 people in about 2500 homes.  Many people in the area still speak French, and there is still a bilingual service at the church on Sundays.

To learn more about the town of Morinville visit their website at www.morinville.ca.