Sherwood Park

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This article is about the community in Alberta. For other uses, see Sherwood Park (disambiguation).
Sherwood Park
—  Urban service area (hamlet)  —
Sherwood Park Urban Service Area
Sherwood Park is located in Edmonton
Location of Sherwood Park near Edmonton
Coordinates: 53°31′24″N 113°18′32″W / 53.52333°N 113.30889°W / 53.52333; -113.30889
Country Canada
Province Alberta
Region Edmonton Region
Census division 11
Specialized municipality Strathcona County
Government[1]
 • Type Unincorporated
 • Mayor Linda Osinchuk
 • Governing body
Area[2]
 • Total 70.98 km2 (27.4 sq mi)
Elevation 720 m (2,362 ft)
Population (2006)[3]
 • Total 56,845
Time zone MST (UTC-7)
 • Summer (DST) MDT (UTC-6)
Postal code span T8A to T8H
Area code(s) +1-780
Highways Highway 216
Highway 21
Highway 14
Website Strathcona County

Sherwood Park is a large hamlet in Alberta, Canada within Strathcona County that is recognized as an urban service area.[4] It is located adjacent to the City of Edmonton's eastern boundary, generally south of Highway 16 (Yellowhead Trail), west of Highway 21 and north of Highway 630 (Wye Road).[5] Smaller portions of Sherwood Park extend beyond Yellowhead Trail and Wye Road, while Highway 216 (Anthony Henday Drive) separates Refinery Row to the west from the balance of the hamlet to the east.[5]

Sherwood Park was first established in 1954/55 on farmland of the Smeltzer family, east of Edmonton. With a population of 61,660 in 2009,[6][7] Sherwood Park has enough people to be Alberta's seventh largest city, but technically retains the status of a hamlet. The Government of Alberta recognizes the Sherwood Park Urban Service Area as equivalent to a city.[8]

Contents

[edit] History

The Cree and Saulteaux Nations are the First Nations peoples who lived in this territory for centuries. The first Europeans did not arrive in the region until in the late 18th century. Buffalo was abundant in the region, and an important source of food and clothing for the local First Nations. Though the local First Nations had maintained sustainable buffalo hunts in the area for generations, the newcomers slaughtered and nearly decimated the buffalo herds which dramatically disrupted the Natives' way of life.

Some local First Nations in the area began trading at nearby Fort Edmonton. The majority of Nations signed Treaty 6 on August 21, 1877, which relegated them to small reserves far from the growing settler communities.

In the early 1950s, developers John Hook Campbell and John Mitchell envisioned a satellite town of 100 houses to accommodate employees of the industries east of Edmonton. In 1953, they received approval from the Municipal District of Strathcona for the development of the residential hamlet named "Campbelltown" and in September 1955, the first model homes were opened to the public. Later in 1956, the name of the hamlet was changed to Sherwood Park. Canada Post would not approve Campbelltown, since there were several Canadian communities with similar names.

[edit] Governance

Mayor Linda Osinchuk

Sherwood Park is governed by the Strathcona County Council, the Mayor of which is Linda Osinchuk who replaced Cathy Olesen in the municipal election in October 2010.

[edit] Economy

Sherwood Park has a strong economy with over $9.0 billion worth of major projects completed, announced, or under construction. A district known as Refinery Row lies west of Sherwood Park and includes some of the largest industrial facilities in Western Canada, including Esso's Strathcona Refinery. The hamlet boasts very low crime rates, including a violent crime rate near zero.[vague]

[edit] Demographics

The population of Sherwood Park according to Strathcona County's 2009 municipal census is 61,660.[6][7]

In 2006, according to Statistics Canada census data, the community had a total population of 56,845.[3]

[edit] Media

Sherwood Park's newspaper is the twice-weekly Sherwood Park-Strathcona County News. The Sherwood Park News and Strathcona County This Week newspapers, both owned by Bowes Publishers, in turn part of Sun Media Corporation, merged on November 6, 2007 to become Sherwood Park • Strathcona County News.[9]

Due to the community's close proximity to Edmonton, all major Edmonton media, including the daily newspapers (such as the Edmonton Sun and the Edmonton Journal) and radio and TV broadcasters, also serve Sherwood Park and immediate area.

[edit] Education

Sherwood Park's two school boards are Elk Island Public Schools (EIPS)[10] and Elk Island Catholic Schools (EICS).[11] The public high schools are Salisbury Composite High School and Bev Facey Community High School, as well as Strathcona Christian Academy Secondary (a 7–12 school). The Catholic high school is Archbishop Jordan High School.

Sherwood Park was home to Canada's first charter school: New Horizons Charter School, a public charter school that offers a gifted education program for students from kindergarten to grade 9. It is now located in Ardrossan.

[edit] Sports

The most significant local sports team is a hockey squad, the Sherwood Park Crusaders. The Crusaders play in the Alberta Junior Hockey League.[12] Sherwood Park has a well-respected Midget "AAA" hockey program, dating back to the mid-1970s, that has produced several top calibre players including former and current NHLers Gerald Diduck, Jim Ennis, Tyson Nash, and Cam Ward. The Sherwood Park Kings Athletic Club includes levels from Peewee to Midget and with the highest level being the Midget "AAA" program.

Sherwood Park is a significant football community. At least one Sherwood Park High School Football Team has been to the Alberta Provincial Final since the 1999 season. The Bantam team, the Sherwood Park Rams, have won provincials five of the last seven seasons.[13]

Baseball has become a very popular and important sport in the community.[14] In 2008, the Sherwood Park Dukes began their first season in Sherwood Park, playing at Centennial Park in the Wester Major Baseball league.

Strathcona County hosted the 2007 Western Canada Summer Games with most of the events held in Sherwood Park. The games included 2,300 athletes, coaches, and officials from the four western provinces and three northern territories. Around 2,800 volunteers helped make the games a success.

[edit] Notable residents

 This article's list of residents may not follow Wikipedia's verifiability or notability policies. Please improve this article by removing names that do not have independent reliable sources cited within this article showing they are notable and residents or by incorporating the relevant publications into the body of the article through appropriate citations. (June 2011)

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Municipal Officials Search". Alberta Municipal Affairs. January 6, 2012. http://www.municipalaffairs.alberta.ca/mc_municipal_officials_search.cfm. Retrieved January 6, 2012. 
  2. ^ "Strathcona County Community Profile". Statistics Canada. Census 2001. http://www12.statcan.ca/english/census01/products/standard/popdwell/Table-CD-DPL.cfm?T=2&PR=48&CD=4811&CSD=4811052&SR=1. Retrieved 2007-06-23. 
  3. ^ a b "2007 Official Population List". Alberta Municipal Affairs. 2008-05-26. http://municipalaffairs.gov.ab.ca/documents/ms/2007pop.pdf. Retrieved 2010-09-12. 
  4. ^ "Specialized and Rural Municipalities and Their Communities". Alberta Municipal Affairs. 2010-04-01. http://municipalaffairs.gov.ab.ca/documents/msb/2010-ruralmun.pdf. Retrieved 2010-07-04. 
  5. ^ a b "Sherwood Park (map)". Strathcona County. 2010. http://www.strathcona.ab.ca/files/Files/at-COMC-Inside_Urban_Map.pdf. Retrieved 2010-07-04. 
  6. ^ a b "2009 Official Population List". Alberta Municipal Affairs. 2009-09-15. http://municipalaffairs.gov.ab.ca/documents/LGS/2009pop.pdf. Retrieved 2010-09-12. 
  7. ^ a b "2009 Municipal Census Report". Strathcona County. http://www.strathcona.ca/files/Files/LLS-Census_2009-2009_Municipal_Census_Report.pdf. Retrieved 2011-01-20. 
  8. ^ "About Strathcona County". Strathcona County. http://www.strathcona.ab.ca/Strathcona/Council/About+Strathcona+County/default.htm. Retrieved 2010-08-21. 
  9. ^ "Sherwood Park News – Alberta, CA". Cgi.bowesonline.com. http://cgi.bowesonline.com/pedro.php?id=22&x=story&xid=351705. Retrieved 2010-08-21. 
  10. ^ "Elk Island Public Schools". Eips.ca. 2010-08-04. http://www.eips.ca/. Retrieved 2010-08-21. 
  11. ^ "Elk Island Catholic Schools". Elk Island Catholic Schools. 2010-06-17. http://www.eics.ab.ca/. Retrieved 2010-08-21. 
  12. ^ "Alberta Junior Hockey League | AJHL". Ajhl.ca. 2010-08-13. http://ajhl.ca/. Retrieved 2010-08-21. 
  13. ^ "Sherwood Park Rams Football:". Sherwoodparkrams.com. 2010-06-17. http://www.sherwoodparkrams.com/. Retrieved 2010-08-21. 
  14. ^ "Sherwood Park Minor Baseball Association". Spmba.ca. http://www.spmba.ca/. Retrieved 2010-08-21. 
  15. ^ "Gerald Diduck hockey statistics & profile at hockeydb.com". hockeydb.com. http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=1358. Retrieved 21 July 2011. 
  16. ^ http://www.avenueedmonton.com/articles/page/item/calling-dr-volker

[edit] External links

St. Albert Gibbons Fort Saskatchewan
Edmonton Mundare
   Sherwood Park    
Leduc Beaumont Tofield
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Coordinates: 53°31′24″N 113°18′31″W / 53.52333°N 113.30861°W / 53.52333; -113.30861 (Sherwood Park, Alberta)

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