St. Paul, Alberta is a small town in East-Central Alberta, Canada. It was formerly called Saint-Paul-des-Métis and was originally a French-Catholic settlement and mission to the Metis people.

St. Paul's major economic strengths are agriculture and the service industry. This has helped St. Paul maintain a degree of stability during the oil boom and bust cycles that Alberta is so dependent upon. Situated in Alberta's Lakeland, its location in the middle of one of a natural playground that offers various recreational opportunities.

Demographics

In 2006, St. Paul had a population of 5,106 living in 2,011 dwellings, a 0.9% increase from 2001. The town has a land area of and a population density of .^[1]

Attractions

The small Prairie town has built the world's first UFO landing pad.^[2] It's all in an effort to attract both tourists and Martians to this rural pocket of Canada. What starts off as a tongue-in-cheek celebration of Canada?s centennial has grown to full-fledged intergalactic fervour. There is a map of Canada embossed in the centre of the back stop of the Landing pad. The map is made of stones that were provided by each province of Canada. It has six 30 inch concrete pylons that make up the main column.

On June 3rd, 1967 the Hon. Paul Hellyer, Minister of National Defence, flew in by helicopter to officially open the Pad.^[3] The pad was one of over 100 Centennial Projects organized by the town.

The sign beside the pad reads: "The area under the World's First UFO Landing Pad was designated international by the Town of St. Paul as a symbol of our faith that mankind will maintain the outer universe free from national wars and strife. That future travel in space will be safe for all intergalactic beings, all visitors from earth or otherwise are welcome to this territory and to the Town of St. Paul."

See also

• St. Paul County
• Towns of Alberta

References

External links

• Town of St. Paul
• St. Paul's Chamber of Commerce

nl:St. Paul (Canada)