Map - Manning, Alberta (Manning)

Manning is a town in northern Alberta, Canada. It is known as the "Land of the Mighty Moose". It is located on Highway 35 on the Notikewin River, approximately 73 km 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.

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 75 km north of the Town of Peace River and west of the Peace River. By 1921 the district would have a population of 500 and the community of Battle River Prairie (later Notikewin) would grow as a regional hub. In the late-1920s the communities of Hotchkiss and North Star would spring 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 would serve the area until 1937 when the new hospital was completed.

The population continued to grow in the 1930s, with farmers moving from the drought-stricken regions of southern Alberta. Pressure began to grow for the construction of a hospital in the region, and the Women's Missionary Society of the United Church of Canada began collecting funds for the construction, with the Government of Alberta agreeing to match funds collected for the new hospital.

In fall 1936 construction began on the eight bed Battle River Hospital, which was completed later on September 4, 1937, and would later become the hub of the new Aurora settlement. The land was donated by John Robertson, and resident doctor Arthur Doige was secured to operate the hospital. Construction was supervised by W.D.C. Buchanon, and the structure would include a operating room, waiting room, kitchen, and accommodation on the second floor for three nurses.

The official settlement was founded by American Patrick "Pat" Larry Craig, who purchased land on the south bank of the Notikewin River and built the Aurora hotel, secured a liquor license and constructed other buildings after the Second World War. The settlement originally intended to be founded under the name "Aurora", but was rejected by the postal authorities because of possibility of confusion with Aurora, Ontario. In 1947 the Mackenzie Highway was pushed through the region and the community became a government construction and maintenance center, and quickly eclipsed North Star and Notikewin in population. At a public meeting in 1947, the community was renamed in honour of Ernest Manning who had become Premier of Alberta four years earlier in 1943, and would serve in the role until 1968.

Manning would be incorporated as a Village on December 31, 1951, and later a Town on January 1, 1957. During the 1950s the Manning Municipal Hospital would be constructed at a cost of CA$127,000, and later in September 1962, the Great Slave Lake Railway would be completed by Canadian National Railways linking the Town to the rail network.