Manning is a town in northern Alberta, Canada. It is known as the "Land of the Mighty Moose". It is on Highway 35 on the Notikewin River, approximately north of Peace River.
Manning is a service centre for the local agriculture, forestry and gas industries. It also serves the nearby rural area within the County of Northern Lights including Deadwood, Hotchkiss, North Star and Notikewin.
History
The community of Manning sprung up as a result of growing agricultural development following the First World War as the Dominion government sought to provide land to returning soldiers to participate in the workforce. The Soldier Settlement Board provided incentives to veterans to begin farming unsettled tracts on the Battle River Prairie north of the Town of Peace River and west of the Peace River. By 1921 the district had a population of 500 and the community of Battle River Prairie (later Notikewin) grew as a regional hub. In the late-1920s the communities of Hotchkiss and North Star sprang up in the region.
The northern communities suffered from limited medical resources, which were facilitated by mobile clinics staffed with registered nurses. In 1928 nurse Mary Little was assigned to the region, and in 1929 she was replaced by Dr. Mary Percy, who was recruited from England. Dr. Percy served the area until 1937, when the new hospital was completed. In 1947 the Mackenzie Highway was pushed through the region, and the community became a government construction and maintenance centre, and quickly eclipsed North Star and Notikewin in population.
Climate
Manning has a subarctic climate, very close to being a humid continental climate, with both May and September averaging only fractionally under . There are vast differences between the warm summers and very cold winters, although areas much further south more eastward in Canada have equally cold winters and cooler summers. The climate data is from minor settlement Notikewin very close to the town.