[Reggie Dunlop]

Today in Bumonton History....

And so, the river valley became the city’s trash receptacle. The escarpment where the Hotel Macdonald now stands was a particularly convenient and popular place to dispose of trash. So popular that it formed a vast collection of food waste, household goods, and refuse, which soon became known as the Grierson Dump.

But the Grierson Dump wasn’t just home to waste. Soon, people began to move in, drawn by the possibility of finding treasure among the trash. A shantytown sprung up, housing mostly young men who would scour the dump for scrap to salvage and sell.

While the engineering office might have encouraged the dump, others weren’t so keen. Police felt the shantytown was a hotbed for crime. Firefighters often had to battle blazes at the dump. And those living near the refuse grounds complained of flies that “swarm into houses” and a stench that remained “even in cold weather.”

https://edmonton.taproot.news/briefs...y-july-26-1917