Stettler, AB
Stettler is a town in Alberta, Canada. It is located 101 km east of Red Deer at the junction of Highway 12 and Highway 56. The town is located in the eastern region of central Alberta and nicknamed "The Heart of Alberta."
Stettler is also home to Alberta Prairie Railway Excursions, a popular attraction delivering rail tours to people from around the world.
The town also serves as a commercial hub for several smaller communities in the area, serving a population of approximately 30,000. Nearby communities include the villages of Big Valley, Gadsby, Donalda, and Halkirk, and the hamlets of Byemoor, Endiang, and Erskine, among others.
Stettler has recently been flourishing due to the province wide economy boom. Despite a disappointing loss to Fort Macleod for the new RCMP training facility, Stettler continues to prosper due to a strong agricultural and petroleum based economy . It is home to the Stettler Auction Mart the oldest Livestock Auction Market in Alberta (1954) and is undergoing its largest real estate boom in its history including major commercial and residential real estate activity. Recent activity includes a brand new 79 room Ramada hotel, a 30 room addition to the Best Western Crusader Inn, Wal-Mart, Tim Hortons, UFA bulk station, a relocated and redeveloped John Deere dealership, and many many more well known brands.
In 2005 Stettler celebrated its centennial along with the province of Alberta. Throughout July there were many celebrations.
Stettler was founded in 1905 and was named after Swiss immigrant Carl Stettler, who also founded a settlement east of the town at Blumenau, as well as being influential in the nearby community of Castor.
Stettler was home to the last man to be hanged in Alberta. In 1959, police discovered Raymond and Daisy May Cook and their five children shot and bludgeoned to death in the garage of their Stettler home, marking the most gruesome mass murder in the province's history. Evidence led police to the Cook's eldest son, Robert Raymond, who was released from prison only days before the crime.
It took 18 months and two trials for Cook to be sentenced to death. At midnight, on November 14, 1960, he was led from his cell in Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, to the execution chamber. He was pronounced dead at 00:18, and would be the last person to be hanged in the province.