It’s Edmonton’s only road without a street, avenue or boulevard; it’s just “Kingsway” and it got its name 78 years ago on June 2, 1939.
King George and Queen Elizabeth stopped in Edmonton as part of their Royal Tour of Canada. The public event was held on Portage Avenue with grandstands lining the road. Seventy-thousand people were there. The population of Edmonton at the time was 90,000.
In honour of King George’s visit to Edmonton, Portage Avenue was renamed Kingsway. The city says there’s no official reasoning why avenue wasn’t included except that maybe it was “King’s Way.”
WATCH: King George VI and Queen Elizabeth visit Vancouver in 1939
According to a program for that day, the couple then drove off in a royal motorcade to the legislature before having dinner at the Hotel MacDonald. King George’s 1939 Royal Tour of Canada began May 17 and ended June 15.
In 1951, Princess Elizabeth visited Edmonton and was honoured with a street of her own.
READ MORE: Royal Tour 2016: Past royal visits to BC and Yukon
The road that intersects with Kingsway was renamed Princess Elizabeth Avenue. Fast forward to 2005 and her sixth visit to Alberta, the province renamed Highway 2 Queen Elizabeth II Highway.
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