Article

Valleyview

Published Online April 1, 2008

Last Edited December 15, 2013

Valleyview, Alta, incorporated as a village in 1954 and as a town in 1957, population 1761 (2011c), 1725 (2006c). The Town of Valleyview is located 105 km east of GRANDE PRAIRIE. The first homesteaders took up land in the area in the late 1910s and the district was called Red Willow.

Valleyview, Alta, incorporated as a village in 1954 and as a town in 1957, population 1761 (2011c), 1725 (2006c). The Town of Valleyview is located 105 km east of GRANDE PRAIRIE. The first homesteaders took up land in the area in the late 1910s and the district was called Red Willow. The name changed in 1929 when a post office was established, as the name Red Willow had already been given to another community in the Peace River area. The name Valleyview is descriptive of the town's situation. The area's population grew slowly until the late 1940s when oil was discovered nearby.

Valleyview is very much a creation of highway development. The completion of the Valleyview-Whitecourt highway in 1955 made Grande Prairie and the western Peace River area much more accessible and shortened travel times to Edmonton and the south considerably. Today, the economy of Valleyview is shaped by the oil and natural gas industry, local agriculture and services for highway travellers.