Amber Valley, Alberta

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Amber Valley (population circa 103) is a small community in Alberta, Canada, about 100 miles north of the capital Edmonton. Its elevation is 1,995 ft. Originally named Pine Creek, Amber Valley was among several Alberta communities settled by early black immigrants to the province. Location of Obadiah Place heritage site.

[edit] History

See also: Black Canadians

In 1911, a group of African American settlers led by Parson H. Sneed, a clergyman and mason, settled in an area by the Athabasca River. For the first few years it was difficult for them. They had to cut out an area for planting crops and building houses. The climate is not what they were use since they came from areas like Oklahoma which had milder winters. The settlers were tough as was their surrounding and three quarters of them stayed.

They built a school house in 1913 and a nondenominational church in 1914. They had a baseball team that was widely known in the north. Amber Valley was the largest community of black people in Alberta until the 1930s.