Why Drumheller’s a Town, Not a City: The Badlands’ Big Choice

Coal dust still lingers in Drumheller’s air, a gritty whisper of a past that shaped this Badlands valley into Alberta’s quirkiest town—not a city, mind you, but a deliberate choice sealed in 1998. Picture a place where hoodoos loom like ancient sentinels, where the Royal Tyrrell Museum guards fossil secrets, and where a coal boom once roared before fading to a tourism hum. I’ve walked these streets, swapped tales with locals, and cracked open the story of why Drumheller traded city swagger for town soul, annexing a string of hamlets in the deal. This history dive spills the why, the what, and the wins of staying a town, for Drumheller itself and us Badlands dwellers. Let’s dig into this coulee-carved tale!

From Coal City to Town: A Wild Ride

The Boom That Built It

Drumheller wasn’t always a quiet town. Back in 1911, Samuel Drumheller kickstarted a coal rush, turning this Red Deer River valley into a gritty hub. Picture railcars rattling in by 1912, hauling out black gold from 139 mines at its peak. It went from village (1913) to town (1916) to city (1930) faster than you can say “Tyrannosaurus.” By 1931, the population spiked 857%. Then from 312 to 2,987 we were riding that coal wave. Drumheller was the biggest coal producer in Western Canada, a city swaggering with miners, saloons, and dreams. But post-World War II, coal tanked and then natural gas and oil took over, and Drumheller’s shine faded. By the ’90s, it was a shadow of its city self, ripe for a rethink.

The 1998 Flip

Enter January 1, 1998—the City of Drumheller and the Municipal District of Badlands No. 7 said “I do” and merged into the Town of Drumheller. Picture it: a city of 6,000-ish and a rural sprawl of hamlets, blending into one 107.93-square-kilometer beast. Now Alberta’s biggest town by land area. They could’ve stayed a city, but nope town status won. Why? Badlands No. 7 had more in common with Drumheller than nearby farm counties. Think about it they both hugged the river valley, wrestling the same floods, tourism dreams, and planning headaches. Plus, city status meant footing the bill for highways like 9 and 56. Town life dodged that bullet, letting Alberta’s province handle the asphalt. It was a Badlands power move, and it stuck.

Annexing the Hamlets: Swallowing the Valley

The Great Hamlet Grab

Drumheller’s no stranger to gobbling up neighbors—think of it as a fossil bed swallowing bones. Before ’98, as a city, it annexed Bankview (1964), Newcastle and North Drumheller (1967), and Midlandvale (1972), little coal camps sucked into the urban fold. Then the big merge hit, absorbing six hamlets from Badlands No. 7: Cambria, East Coulee, Lehigh, Nacmine, Rosedale, and Wayne. Picture Wayne’s ghost-town vibes, East Coulee’s mine scars, and Nacmine’s quiet streets—all now Drumheller turf. Add in older grabs like Aerial, Eladesor, Kneehill, Rosedale Station, Western Monarch, and Willow Creek, and that’s 13 communities in the bag. It’s a Badlands buffet, turning hamlets into neighborhoods.

Why They Did It

Annexing wasn’t just flexing—it was survival. Picture the coal bust leaving these hamlets gasping—mines closed, jobs dried up, and folks trickled out. Drumheller, shifting to tourism with the Tyrrell and hoodoos, needed land and clout to stay alive. Swallowing these spots meant more tax base, more control over the valley’s sprawl, and a bigger tourism draw for example think Atlas Coal Mine in East Coulee or Wayne’s Last Chance Saloon. The ’98 merger sealed the deal, uniting a fractured valley under one flag. It wasn’t pretty some grumbled about losing hamlet identity but it gave Drumheller the muscle to pivot from coal to dino dollars. The Badlands became one big sandbox, and Drumheller held the shovel.

Town vs. City: The Perks of Staying Small

Benefits for the Town

So why pick town over city? Picture this: as a town, Drumheller offloads highway costs—Routes 9, 10, 56, 575, and 576—to Alberta’s wallet. That’s millions saved, freeing cash for the Aquaplex, Badlands Community Facility, or luring tourists with Tyra the T-Rex. Towns get more provincial grants, too Drumheller’s 7,909 souls (2021 census) qualify for rural aid cities can’t touch. It’s leaner less bureaucracy, no city-sized staff bloating the budget. And with 108 square kilometers, it’s Alberta’s land king among towns, flexing control over a valley that’s half dino bones, half wind-swept weirdness. Town status keeps Drumheller nimble, a Badlands beast dodging urban fat.

Perks for the People

For us living here, town life’s a win. Picture lower taxes highway costs off our backs mean more bucks for schools or fixing flood-prone streets (looking at you, 2005). Services stay tight-knit—7,982 folks (2016) don’t need a city’s sprawl to get a library card or rink time. Tourism pumps jobs—500,000 Tyrrell visitors yearly, plus hoodoo hikers. We keep that small-town soul think Last Chance beers or Stampede cheers. While annexing hamlets spreads the love, linking East Coulee miners’ kids to Drumheller’s pool. It’s not perfect potholes still suck but town status keeps us Badlands folk connected, not lost in some urban maze. We’re a valley tribe, not a city cog.

The Badlands Edge: Why It Works

A Valley United

Annexing those hamlets didn’t just grow Drumheller it glued the valley together. Picture Wayne’s 30-odd residents tied to Nacmine’s quiet lanes, all under one roof. The merger tackled shared woes floods, tourism shifts, fading coal better than solo stabs. Town status keeps it real: no city pretensions, just a Badlands crew making it work. Today, on a staff of only 100 people. It’s oil, gas, and dinos—Alberta’s second-biggest gas field hums here, but tourism’s the king, with agriculture and a federal prison chipping in. The valley’s quirks. hoodoos, fossils, that river, all thrive under town rule, a united front that’s more than the sum of its 13 swallowed parts.

Living the Town Life

Town status was the Badlands hack big enough to annex and flex (108 square kilometers!), small enough to dodge highway bills and keep taxes chill. For us, it’s home, 7,909 strong, we’ve got the Tyrrell’s 500,000 guests, We have the Atlas Mine’s ghosts, the worlds tallest dino, who brings in a notable 150000+ tourists on her own Tyra is a giant of the Valley in Many ways and of coarse a vibe no city could match. It’s not about size; it’s about soul. Less red tape, more valley grit—Drumheller’s a town because it fits the Badlands like a fossil in shale. This is why we live in the town of Drumheller—raw, real, and roaring with history.
“Its Not a City AJ its a Town” – All of the locals in Drumheller
Thanks Everyone, I listened and studied I got it down.