As the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) expanded west in the late 1880s, a temporary community was established in anticipation of the train coming through the area. When the train arrived with lumber and more settlers by 1899, the town of Medicine Hat was incorporated. Located at the midpoint between Winnipeg and Vancouver, Medicine Hat became the Divisional Headquarters for CPR. The small town started to become an industrial city and distribution centre.
Around the same time, while CPR was digging for water, they struck natural gas. The first gas field to be discovered supplied a cheap energy source to the local community. This further fuelled the industrial growth; factories, wool mills, and foundries.
In addition to natural gas, a large supply of clay was discovered beneath the ground around Medicine Hat. Thanks to the Saskatchewan River, clay was deposited around the footprint of Medicine Hat. The quality of the resource was found to produce excellent bricks and pottery. With the gas to fuel the kilns and the clay as a natural resource, Medicine Hat became the centre of the clay products industry in the region.
Medicine Hat Clay Industries was designated a national historic site in 1999, and within that site is the Medalta Potteries site. The Medalta complex dating to 1912, had four circular brick ‘beehive kilns’ and warehouses. What’s interesting about Medalta, dear reader, is that you may still find their goods in your kitchen today. Medalta produced a lot of household items - jugs, crocks, and butter churns that dominated the market in Canada with almost 70% of the product share.
Pre-refrigeration, most families would have various sized crocks to preserve food from a 1 gallon to 20-gallon capacity. Typically the crocks would store butter, pickled vegetables or jams. The pottery crocks were water-tight, extremely durable, and affordable.
Today the Medalta Historic site has been converted into a museum, art studio, archaeological site, and cultural hub. It's now a collector's item if you have some of that original pottery, or you can purchase a replica piece at the site.
There isn’t much commentary from Karl when he passed through Medicine Hat. As for me, I’m just glad Karl gave me the reason to visit.
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