page_title: Drayton Valley
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Drayton Valley / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Pump jack at Drayton Valley, Alberta
context_page_description: Drayton Valley is a town in central Alberta, Canada. It is located on Highway 22, approximately 133 kilometres southwest of Edmonton. It is surrounded by Brazeau County, known for its vast oil fields. The town is located between the North Saskatchewan River and the Pembina River.
  The town was named after Drayton, Hampshire, the birthplace of the wife of one of the Alberta town's postmasters.
context_section_description: Prior to the 1953 oil boom, the community of Drayton Valley was sparsely populated.  The main economic activities were farming and logging. Drayton Valley was incorporated as a village in 1956 and officially became a town in 1957.  In 1955 a ferry was built to cross the North Saskatchewan River. The original bridge that replaced the ferry was eventually replaced by a new bridge in 2014.
caption: Drayton Valley is known for oil production
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