On this day in 1914, there was great excitement about work beginning on a municipally-owned gas well to serve Edmonton's energy needs.
"It was a momentous occasion," the Edmonton Journal declared. "It was one that perhaps will go down in the annals of Edmonton's history and forever give light to the work carried out by public-spirited men during 1914."
Calgary had gas, and civic leaders in Edmonton didn't want to be left behind. A reservoir at Pelican Rapids along the Athabasca River was deemed too far away, but Viking, about 130 km southeast of the city, seemed more plausible. A.P. "Tiny" Phillips and W.R. "Frosty" Martin struck gas there in November of 1914.
The good burghers of Edmonton were less enthusiastic than our breathless correspondent. "Residents rejected three successive bylaws submitted to raise financing for the development of the Viking gas field, a prospect they perceived as risky and expensive," says Alberta's energy heritage site. There was, after all, plenty of coal to burn.
It wasn't until November of 1923 that Northwestern Utilities started pumping natural gas from Viking to Edmonton.
This clipping was found on Vintage Edmonton, a daily look at Edmonton's history from armchair archivist @revRecluse.