Boian, Alberta facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Boian
|
|
|---|---|
|
Unincorporated community
|
|
 Boian, Alberta
Location in Alberta
|
|
| Country | Canada |
| Province | Alberta |
| Region | Central Alberta |
| Census Division | 10 |
| Municipal district | County of Two Hills No. 21 |
| Founded | 19th century |
| Highways | 45 857 |
Boian is a small, unincorporated community in Alberta, Canada. It's located near the North Saskatchewan River, about 6 kilometers east of Willingdon. This special place is known for being the very first settlement in Canada founded by people from Romania.
Contents
The Story of Boian
Early Days and Naming
Boian got its name from a village called Boian in Bukovina, Romania. Many of the first settlers in this Canadian community came from that original village. They brought their heritage and traditions with them.
Building a Community
In the fall of 1903, the people of Boian began building a Romanian Orthodox Church. They named it St. Mary Orthodox Church, just like a church back in their homeland. It was completed in the summer of 1905.
By 1909, the community needed a local school for their children. A small building was constructed in 1910. Later, a larger stone school with three rooms was built. This became the biggest rural school in all of Alberta at the time!
New Beginnings Elsewhere
The Romanians of Boian eventually found that there wasn't enough farmland for everyone to expand. Because of this, many of the first generation moved on. They helped form new Romanian communities in places like Pierceland, Saskatchewan, and Manning, Alberta.
Boian Today: A Living Museum
Today, the former Boian Mare school building is now the Boian Community Center. It has a small museum inside! This museum shows how Romanian immigration to Alberta happened. You can see photos of the first Romanian settlers in the area. It also shows what a typical Romanian farmer's life was like in rural Canada.
The house of the local Yurko family was moved to the Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village. There, it helps show the similarities and differences between Ukrainian Canadian and Romanian Canadian cultures. In 1982, the Romanian Pioneer Museum of Boian, Alberta, was opened. It features a restored pioneer house built in the traditional Bukovinian peasant style. This modern museum tells the story of Romanian pioneers from 1898 through 1935.
