Edmonton was first founded as a fort in 1795 and grew into a major fort in the fur trade. In 1894, the town of Edmonton was founded and the city quickly grew. By 1904, Edmonton was incorperated as a city and had over 1000 people. The next ten years of Edmonton were crazy - jumping to 74,000 then to 53,000. This was mostly due to railways coming and it becoming a major transportation place. Not to mention, a lot of the land that was owned as a reserve was sold to the city which eventually became downtown. In 1912, the town south of the city that held the University of Alberta, Strathcona, was annexed. It probably helped also that Edmonton became Alberta's capital in 1905. The 1920s saw slow growth for the city and by the 30s, Edmonton reached 79,000 people but was still growing slowly due to the depression.Oil was discovered just south of the city in the 1950s, and Edmonton came to be known as the "Oil Capital of Canada". This boom boosted the population to 275,000 by the decade's close. Downtown became the cultural center of the city, with clubs and shops lining every street. This was also when the "outer suburbs" concept became reality-Jasper Place, Belgravia, Bonnie Doon, Kilarney, Westmount, etc. were built. Before this, Glenora, Central McDougall, Highlands, and Strathcona were the city limits.The city grew through the 60s as well, and the first building over 100 meters was completed: the CN Tower, which still stands tall just north of downtown. By the 1970s, high oil prices stimulated growth, raising the metropolitan population to about 570,000 in 1975. The 70s also saw a skyscraper boom with many residential and business towers added to the Central Business District.In the 1980s, there was a sharp decline in growth because of an economic recession. Even so, there were still a lot of office towers built, including the current tallest, ManuLife Place, at 146 meters. By 1986, when West Edmonton Mall was completed, and metro area census reported 796,000 residents. The 80s also had mild suburban growth.The 90s brought economic uncertainty and development slowed to a crawl. The term "Deadmonton" was used as the city's downtown sat empty, and Whyte Avenue was barely lively. However, in the 2000s, Edmonton's economy started to diversify, with high tech sectors opening up, and the oil sector is becoming less and less the priority of the economy. Edmonton is also becoming a world leader in sustainability. As well, the National Nanotechnology Centre at the University of Alberta was built, building the city's technology sector. In 2004, Edmonton hit 1 million people. In 06/07, Edmonton experienced a boom especially in its downtown core and suburban area. The city grew by 49,000 in 2 years, not bad for it's size. Today Edmonton is still growing fast, despite economic uncertainty and is probably one of the most stable places in Canada. Central areas are still growing and new stuff is popping up making the area hip and comfortable. http://wikitravel.org/en/Edmonton