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McKay Avenue School is a historic site in Edmonton, Alberta. Designed by architect Henry Denny Johnson, the school was completed in 1905, the year that Alberta became a province. The Alberta Legislature had not been built, so the provincial assembly had to find other quarters for its proceedings. In 1906 and 1907, the third floor of the building was used for the first two working sessions of the Alberta Legislative Assembly. Important bills passed in those sessions include confirming Edmonton as the provincial capital, the founding of the University of Alberta, establishment of provincial courts, and the provision of charters for several railway companies.
It was named after Dr. William MacKay, a physician for the Hudson's Bay Company.
Edmonton Public Schools Archives and Museum
The Edmonton Public Schools Archives and Museum is located in the McKay Avenue School. The organization is a public research facility housing records and artifacts related to Edmonton Public Schools. It also offers curriculum-based, hands-on education programs for students and a museum highlighting the history of Edmonton Public Schools and Alberta's early political history. The museum features a 1950s-period schoolroom and the restored 1906 legislative assembly room.
The museum also includes the original 1880s schoolhouse adjacent to the McKay Avenue School, which the McKay Avenue School replaced in 1905. The schoolhouse is used for museum education programs.
