North Glenora sits on land that was originally part of River Lot 2, a 1,000 acre estate owned by Malcolm Groat in 1870. The Groat estate extended from 121 Street to 142 Street, and from the North Saskatchewan River to 111 Avenue. This land was sold in 1906 to Montreal realtor James Carruthers. Although many of the older west end communities that sit within the historic River Lot 2, such as Groat Estate, Westmount and Glenora were actively being developed from the turn of the century, it was not until the post World War II economic boom that North Glenora began developing.

North Glenora was one of Edmonton’s first comprehensively planned communities. With a total area of approximately 87 hectares, North Glenora is one of the smaller residential neighbourhoods in the city. North Glenora is bounded by four major roadways: 107 Avenue, 111 Avenue, 142 Street on the west, and Groat Road to the east.

Residential construction in North Glenora occurred in the 1950s almost exclusively. The first building project in the neighbourhood was a recreation complex built in 1953. Most of the public facilities and multi-unit housing complexes in North Glenora are centrally located, surrounded by the neighbourhood’s many single family dwellings. Located just north of the neighbourhood, Westmount Mall, Edmonton’s first suburban shopping mall, has served residents of North Glenora since the mid-1950s.