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 This building is a tribute to homesteading life and to one who lived it-Stephan G. Stephansson, an Alberta farmer and Iceland’s most revered poet. He was born in Iceland in 1853, and in 1873 emigrated to the United States, first to Wisconsin and then to the Dakota Territory. In 1889 the Stephansson family joined a new Icelandic settlement west of Red Deer.
In addition to farming and writing poetry, Stephansson was very active in the community. His first volumes of poetry, titled Andvokur (Sleepless Nights), were published in 1908 and acclaimed in the Icelandic community. At age 60 he turned over the farm to his son Jakob so he could devote more time to writing. The highlight of his literary career was his 1917 four-month reading tour of Iceland. On Stephansson’s death in 1927, 500 Icelanders from across North America attended his burial at the Christiansson cemetery near Markerville.
The Victorian cottage where Stephansson and his wife Helga raised six children was designated a Provincial Historic Site in 1976. It has been restored to its 1927 appearance, and now costumed interpreters demonstrate spinning, baking, household chores and, of course, poetry reading.
Stephenson House
Box 837
Markerville, Alberta
T0M 1M0
Phone:
Fax:
Open May 15-Labour Day: daily 10-6. Admission is charged. Located 7 km north of Markerville; 30 km southwest of Red Deer off Hwy 592 or 781.Summer: . Winter: /2022. Within Alberta, dial to be connected toll free.
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