Alberta, Alberta History, canada, Go East of Edmonton, Railway, Road Trip, Train Station, Trains, World's Largest - March 8, 2021

Vegreville Alberta | Go East of Edmonton Road Trip

Take a road trip East of Edmonton Alberta down Highway 16 to Vegreville with us to see the World's largest Pysanka or Easter Egg. On our way home we take the backroads and discover the wooden grain elevator of Bardo Alberta.

Now we are not going to sit here and give you a complete history lesson on the town of Vegreville and the remanence of Bardo but we will give you a quick run down and some cool fact's along the way.

Vegreville is a town rich in history dating back to the late 1800's; today it is known for the World's largest Easter egg or Ukrainian Pysanka. This Pysanka however is also a giant Weather Vane that stands on a 27 000 lbs base. 7 ft) The giant egg has 177 internal struts holding it together along with 6978 nuts & bolts. It boasts 524 star patterns, 2208 equilateral triangles and 3512 facets. The Giant Egg was built in 1974 honoring the 100th Anniversary of the March west by the North West Mounted Police. It represents the peace and security by the Police in the Early years of the settlers.

FACT: Pysanka - Pysty means to write

Colors of the Pysanka

Bronze - Good Earth in Area

Gold Stars - Good Fortune

3 pointed starts - devotion to ancestors

band of silver - eternity

Gold & silver windmills - rich harvest

Silver wolfs teeth - Security & protection of the RCMP

The first settlers to the area came in the late 1800's but it wasn't until 1894 when the French Canadian's immigrated from Kansas that Vegreville's rich agricultural history began. In 1895 the community was growing and they decided to name it Vegreville after Father Valentin Vegreville, a Roman Catholic Oblate missionary in Western Canada.

Around 1904 the Canadian National Railway was being built but it wouldn't be going through town so they picked up the entire community, buildings and all and moved it a few km away to where the railway would pass through. By 1905 the first Catholic Church was built and the community had several small homes, a hotel, banks, blacksmith police barracks and a few stores. The Vegreville Train station was built in 1930 and also had a Telegraph office located on site. The train station still stands today and is a local restaurant and Historical site. Vegreville has plenty sites to see and just a drive around the Historic downtown is cool. In the summer months there is plenty of old classic cars driving around.

On our way home we took a back road to drive through what would have been Bardo, Alberta. The Wooden grain Elevators stands on private property today but is visible from the road. Please be respectful! It is very sad to see these wooden grain elevators slowly disappearing however the cost to repair is one hard bill to swallow. From what we have read the grain elevator was built in 1920.

One thing 2020 taught us was to slow down and explore our own backyard. We have done several small day trips from Edmonton in the last year and taken many backroads and we always find something to see or take a picture of. WOW is Alberta ever rich in History. If your interested in seeing the full road trip and some more sights along the way check out our YouTube video linked below!