When the railroad reached Jasper in 1911, the settlement which grew up on the Athabasca River was initially called Fitzhugh, and this remained its name until it was changed to Jasper in 1913. The Brewster brothers set up a small tent city for tourists on Beauvert Lake, which was replaced by Jasper Park Lodge in 1920. Mountaineers climbed the
previously unknown peaks, and outfitters took enterprising tourists to remote regions on horseback.
Jasper town site, somewhat less crowded than its sister resort of Banff, has a permanent population of about 3300. It is the tourist center for Jasper Park, with plenty of accommodation, stores, etc.
Connaught Drive is Jasper's main street. The Canada Parks offices are opposite the station where, from late summer onwards, long goods trains, often numbering more than a hundred freight cars, laden with grain from the prairies, are assembled in the vast marshalling yards before going on to Vancouver through Yellowhead Pass.
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