TOM THUMB MINI GOLF
PARTNERSHIP OPPORTUNITIES
C.B Webb opened Edmonton’s first Tom Thumb Miniature Golf Course on August 7, 1930, on a vacant lot in Jasper Avenue between 107 and 108 Street. There was an ample supply of vacant lots in Edmonton due to the economic turndown of the era.
Within two months, there were five courses in operation thoughout the city, two of them indoors. This course is a nine-hole representation of the standard eighteen-hole variety. Beginning in the United States in 1926, miniature golf saw its most successful venture from Garnet and Frieda Carter’s Tom Thumb Miniature Course, built at their Fairyland Inn Resort in Tennessee. The Carters
sold franchises all over North America. and vacant lots everywhere became potential gold mines for enterprising operators with a modest investment.
The Tom Thumb Miniature Golf Course first opened at Fort Edmonton Park in 1996, thanks to the support of generous donors, specifically Edmonton Northlands. Many visitors have enjoyed the course since then, with a great amount saying it was one of their favourite parts of the Fort Edmonton Park experience.
With the overwhelming amount of love and attention the course received over the years, it fell into a state of disrepair. The Fort Edmonton Foundation set out on this new project, and worked tirelessly to get Tom Thumb back to its original shape. After removing all of the old broken elements and replacing them with new ones, including new turf, paint, and woodwork, we have completed the stunning Tom Thumb Miniature Golf Course visitors can see today.
“What we give to future generations will help them understand where we come from and because of that, we will know where we are going.”
Honorary Chief Factor,
Councillor Aaron Paquette
PARTNERSHIP OPPORTUNITIES
The Fort Edmonton Foundation is an Edmonton charity founded in 1969 by Rotarians, business leaders, and passionate community members. Their goal was to help preserve the history of Edmonton by rebuilding the original Fort Edmonton and creating a living history museum in the river valley
