Picture Butte


Picture Butte is a town in southern Alberta, Canada. It is located north of the city of Lethbridge. It claims the title of "Livestock Feeding Capital of Canada."

History

Picture Butte received its name from a prominence southeast of town. By 1947, however, the prominence's soil had been reworked and used for street improvements, highway construction and a dyke on the shore of the Picture Butte Lake Reservoir. The prominence no longer exists.
Homesteading in the area began in the early 20th century. The building of the Lethbridge Northern Irrigation System in 1923 and the CPR rail line in 1925 stimulated an influx of settlers. The first post office opened in 1925.
In 1943, Picture Butte became a village, and it attained town status in 1961 with a population of 978.
The Canadian Sugar Factory closed in 1978 and resulted in the loss of tax revenues and employment opportunities to the town. Industrial activity consists of small service, warehousing and wholesaling industries.
The town annexed approximately in 1991, significantly changing the town's boundary since the general municipal plan of 1980.

Demographics

In the 2016 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, the Town of Picture Butte recorded a population of 1,810 living in 672 of its 706 total private dwellings, a change from its 2011 population of 1,650. With a land area of, it had a population density of in 2016.
In the 2011 Census, the Town of Picture Butte had a population of 1,650 living in 625 of its 660 total dwellings, a 3.6% change from its 2006 population of 1,592. With a land area of, it had a population density of in 2011.
The population of the Town of Picture Butte according to its 2010 municipal census is 1,658.

Education

Picture Butte is part of the Palliser Regional School Division #26, and also part of the Holy Spirit Roman Catholic Separate School District #4.
The following schools are located in Picture Butte: