Sherwood Park

The city of Sherwood Park, Alberta is located roughly 3 km east from Edmonton. It is considered a hamlet, the biggest hamlet in the world with a current population more than 62,000 residents. Presently, the city of Sherwood Park is the 7th largest city within the province. Sherwood Park is part of Strathcona County. More than 50 percent of the population of the county resides in the city of Sherwood Park. The Sherwood Park Urban Service Area has been recognized by the Alberta Government as the equivalent to a city. For the most part, the city of Sherwood Park is considered to be a residential community.

Within the province of Alberta, the word hamlet describes an urban centre that is governed by the County that it is located within, regardless of geographical or population size. There are three hamlets which are governed by Strathcona County, consisting of Sherwood Park, Ardrossan, and Josephburg.

The very first inhabitants who lived in the region were from the Saulteaux and Cree Nations. It wasn't until the late 18th century that the Europeans began to arrive. The major food source of the First Nation people was buffalo, that were abundant within the area. Then again, the Native's way of life was extremely disrupted by the arrival of the Europeans, who proceeded to almost decimate the buffalo herds.

The city of Sherwood Park was first established on farmland that was owned by the Smeltzer family during 1954. In the year 1996, the county of Strathcona was designated as a "specialized municipality" in order to help solve several of the issues which arose from being an area which included both rural and urban territory.

Currently, the economy in Sherwood Park is prospering and the hamlet has an expected $9.0 billion worth of projects that are either announced, under construction or completed. To the west of Sherwood Park lies Refinery Row, which is a district that hosts some of the largest industrial facilities in the nation. The crime rate in the hamlet is very low, with the violent crime rate hovering near zero.