Wildwood is a

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

in west-

central Alberta Central Alberta is a region located in the Canadian province of Alberta. Central Alberta is the most densely populated rural area in the province. Agriculture and energy are important to the area's economy. Geography Central Alberta is bordered ...

, Canada within

Yellowhead County Yellowhead County is a municipal district in west central Alberta, Canada. It is the only municipal district within Alberta census division No. 14. History *1994: Established as a ''Municipal District of Yellowhead No. 94'' on January 1. ...

. It is located on the

Yellowhead Highway The Yellowhead Highway (french: Route Yellowhead) is a major interprovincial highway in Western Canada that runs from Winnipeg to Graham Island off the coast of British Columbia via Saskatoon and Edmonton. It stretches across the four western ...

(Highway 16), approximately west of Edmonton and east of Edson. The Yellowhead Highway's intersection with

Cowboy Trail The Cowboy Trail is a rail trail in northern Nebraska. It is a multi-use recreational trail suitable for bicycling, walking and horseback riding. It occupies an abandoned Chicago and North Western Railway corridor. When complete, the trail will ...

(Highway 22) is east of the hamlet. The

Lobstick River The Lobstick River is a small river in originating in west-central Alberta, Canada. It flows north from the foothills before entering Chip Lake. It then flows eastward through the community of Lobstick before joining the Pembina River, which in ...

, which flows from

Chip Lake Chip Lake is a large lake in west-central Alberta. The Lobstick River flows through the lake. It in turn is a tributary of the Pembina River, which eventually flows into the Athabasca River. Poison Creek flows into the north-west corner of Chi ...

to the west, runs through the hamlet. Statistics Canada recognizes Wildwood as a

designated place A designated place (DPL) is a type of community or settlement identified by Statistics Canada that does not meet the criteria used to define municipalities or population centres. DPLs are delineated every 5 years for the Canadian census as the ...

History

Originally named ''Junkins'', Wildwood was established in 1908 by a group of 20 African-American immigrants as a

block settlement A block settlement (or bloc settlement) is a particular type of land distribution which allows settlers with the same ethnicity to form small colonies. This settlement type was used throughout western Canada between the late 19th and early 20th ...

. The new Black Canadian homesteaders arrived from Oklahoma and Texas, just three years after Alberta became a province in 1905. The railway arrived in Junkins in 1908. People arriving at "end of steel" transferred their goods to wagons and travelled to their homesteads.

Demographics

In the

2021 Census of Population The 2021 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population with a reference date of May 11, 2021. It follows the 2016 Canadian census, which recorded a population of 35,151,728. The overall response rate was 98%, which is sli ...

conducted by Statistics Canada, Wildwood had a population of 257 living in 118 of its 136 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 273. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021. As a designated place in the 2016 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Wildwood had a population of 273 living in 139 of its 157 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2011 population of 294. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2016.

References

{{coord, 53, 36, 34, N, 115, 14, 15, W, scale:60000_region:CA, display=title, name=Wildwood Black Canadian culture in Alberta Black Canadian settlements Designated places in Alberta Former villages in Alberta Hamlets in Alberta Yellowhead County Populated places disestablished in 1990 Populated places established by African Americans

History

Demographics

See also

References