A notable aspect of Alberta's history is the incidence of rural penetration among the Jewish population.About one fifth of the area's Jews lived in towns and villages in 1921,a figure that dropped rapidly with the hardships of the Depression and the great social changes of the war years.

      Jews lived in a large number of Alberta towns. Ten rural centres had Jewish residents according to the 1911 census,a figure that rose to 25 by 1921 and to nearly 50 by 1931,the height of Jewish small town populations.

      Most Jewish family heads were merchants,running general stores or more specialized retail outlets such as jewellery,furniture or clothing stores.There were also Jewish craftmen,providing services to their communities as welders,machinists,mechanics or harness-makers.A few farmed nearby or bought and sold cattle,feed,furs and hides.More prosperous small-town Jews ran hotels or auto dealerships.

      A few Jewish professionals settled in the towns and villages,primarily druggists,doctors and teachers, most of whom moved to a major centre after gaining rural experience.

      In Southern Alberta,Drumheller had the most Jews, 44 in 1931,augmented by families in nearby coal- mining villages.Bassano,Beiseker,Macleod,Irricana and Strathmore housed several Jewish families in the 1920's.There were,in the pre-war decades,Jews in Rumsey,Munson,Olds,Rockyford,Trochu,Magrath, Pincher Creek,Red Deer and Warner.

      Contraction of the rural communities was already underway by the thirties.Jews who had lived in Big Valley,Blairmore,Canmore,Hanna,Irvine,Milk River and Taber during the 1921 census had left these communities over the next decade.

      Southern Alberta's small-town Jews moved to the cities-primarily to Calgary,where a growing Jewish population was developing the religious,educational and social institutions not possible in small and isolated communities.The cities also provided more employment and business opportunities. In addition, most small-town Jews were part of extended families based in the larger cities,and were naturally drawn back to their familial roots.

      Alberta's small town Jews reported warm relations with their neighbors and participated actively in local community life.However,the imperatives of Jewish survival-possible in the cities-proved stronger than the attractiion of small town life.