Long before formal homesteading, the area around Ardley was noted by early explorers for its rich geology—specifically, the prominent coal seams embedded in the Red Deer River valley (part of what geologists later termed the Ardley coal zone). During the Palliser Expedition (1857–1860), expedition member James Hector documented a stream north of present-day Ardley featuring exposed coal deposits that had spontaneously ignited.

Homesteaders began arriving in the area around 1901. Because of the local coal deposits and mines, the early settlement was officially named Coal Banks. In 1903, the Mound Lake School opened, with Annie Gaetz serving as its first teacher (she later became a notable local historian for the Red Deer area).

A post office opened under the name Coal Banks on April 1, 1904, and local Christian residents established a Sunday school, erecting a place of worship by 1908.

The character of the settlement shifted dramatically in 1912 when the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway constructed a line through the area. The railway company established a station and named it Ardley—after a village of the same name in Oxfordshire, England (derived from Old English meaning "high pasture"). Following this, the local post office and school adopted the name Ardley.

The Grand Trunk Pacific also built a massive wooden trestle bridge spanning the Red Deer River just north of the community. After heavy river flooding destroyed parts of the original wooden structure, it was reinforced with steel towers and spans.

Control of the railway shifted to the Canadian National Railway (CNR) in 1919, and a grain elevator was opened in the mid-1920s to service local grain farmers. The community suffered losses over the decades, including a fire that destroyed the local church in 1943, and severe rainstorms in 1952 that heavily damaged the Ardley railway bridge (requiring extensive repairs before reopening in 1955).

Like many small prairie railway hamlets, Ardley’s population dwindled as transportation networks modernized and local agriculture consolidated. In July 1961, a fire destroyed the Ardley post office. Because no residents stepped forward to take over postal operations, it was permanently closed. The Ardley railway station was closed in 1965 and sold off as a farm building. The Post office opened on April 1, 1904, and closed on june 11, 1961.