Falher

Falher is a town of about 1000 people (2016) northwest of Edmonton in the Peace Country of Alberta. It is at an important junction for travellers heading between Edmonton and the Mackenzie Highway.

Understand
Known as the "Honey Capital of Canada," Falher is a small agricultural community located south of the town of Peace River. The area, which includes the communities of St. Isidore and Girouxville, and is predominately a Francophone community.

History
Falher is one of the earliest agricultural communities in the Peace Country. The area was known to missionaries before it was surveyed in 1909 as an Aboriginal trail that led to British Columbia and later where the railway laid its tracks. In 1912, the settlement of Mission St-Jean Baptiste de Falher was opened 5 km (3 mi) from the current location of the Town of Falher. When the railway came to the area in 1915, the settlement was named after Father Constant Falher, a Roman Catholic Oblate missionary who was born in Josselin, Brittany, France in 1863, arriving at Grouard in 1889. The origin of the majority of local colonizers were from Quebec; some arriving in the area via the United States of America (French American), such as Robert Goulet's family, who settled in the nearby francophone community.

The colony was divided into two: what is now the Village of Donnelly and the Town of Falher. In 1919, the town consolidated a school district and the first parish of Ste. Anne was established. The first post office opened in 1923 when the settlement became a hamlet. It incorporated as a village in 1929 and then as a town in 1955.

Get in
There are two main routes between Edmonton and Peace River, both of which converge at Falher. Highway 2 comes from Edmonton via Slave Lake to the east, turns north at Falher, and continues to Peace River and the Mackenzie Highway. Highway 49 comes from Valleyview to the south, where travellers take Highway 43 from Edmonton area. Access to Falher is west of the Highway 2/49 intersection on Highway 49.

Do
Falher has a spray park, swimming pool, curling rink, and indoor skating rink.



Buy
Falher has some mostly small shops along Main Street.