Wainwright is a town in east-central Alberta, Canada. It is approximately southeast of

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

. Located west of the

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

–

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...

border, Wainwright is south of

Vermilion Vermilion (sometimes vermillion) is a color, color family, and pigment most often made, since ancient history, antiquity until the 19th century, from the powdered mineral cinnabar (a form of mercury sulfide, which is toxic) and its correspondi ...

in the Battle River valley. Highway 41, called the Buffalo Trail, and Highway 14 go through the town.

CFB Wainwright 3rd Canadian Division Support Base Detachment Wainwright, commonly referred to as Canadian Forces Base Wainwright or CFB Wainwright, is a Canadian Forces Base located in Denwood, Alberta, adjacent to the town of Wainwright. Military Camp Wainwr ...

is located in Denwood, southwest of Wainwright. Wainwright Entrance

History

Originally named Denwood by settler James Dawson in 1905, the town was relocated by the

Grand Trunk Pacific Railway The Grand Trunk Pacific Railway was a historic Canadian transcontinental railway running from Fort William, Ontario (now Thunder Bay) to Prince Rupert, British Columbia, a Pacific coast port. East of Winnipeg the line continued as the National Tra ...

west-northwest and renamed Wainwright after General William Wainwright, the second vice-president of railway. The original townsite opened with post office in 1907 along with Denwood Hotel and store. The post office and hotel (becoming Wainwright Hotel) relocated to Wainwright in 1908 with the old townsite later becoming

. The town is a

divisional point In Canada, a divisional point (or division point) is a local operational headquarters for a railway. Divisional points are significant in railway maintenance of way operations. Especially historically, they could be the location of facilities and in ...

on the

Canadian National Railway The Canadian National Railway Company (french: Compagnie des chemins de fer nationaux du Canada) is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States. CN i ...

main line. Wainwright railway station is served by

Via Rail Via Rail Canada Inc. (), operating as Via Rail or Via, is a Canadian Crown corporation that is mandated to operate intercity passenger rail service in Canada. It receives an annual subsidy from Transport Canada to offset the cost of operating ...

's ''

The Canadian ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

''.

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; french: Statistique Canada), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and cultur ...

, the Town of Wainwright had a population of 6,606 living in 2,664 of its 2,914 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 6,285. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021. In the 2016 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, the Town of Wainwright recorded a population of 6,270 living in 2,524 of its 2,770 total private dwellings, a change from its 2011 population of 5,925. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2016. The Town of Wainwright's 2013 municipal census counted a population of 6,289, an 8.9% increase over its 2008 municipal census population of 5,775.

Arts and culture

Wainwright has the third-largest stampede in Canada. It occurs at the end of June, and includes a

rodeo Rodeo () is a competitive equestrian sport that arose out of the working practices of cattle herding in Spain and Mexico, expanding throughout the Americas and to other nations. It was originally based on the skills required of the working va ...

, chuckwagon races, parade, midway, and an agricultural fair.

Education

Buffalo Trail Public Schools Regional Division No. 28 Buffalo Trail Public Schools Regional Division No. 28 or Buffalo Trail Public Schools is a public school authority within the Canadian province of Alberta operated out of Wainwright. See also *List of school authorities in Alberta The Cana ...

*Wainwright Elementary School *

Wainwright High School Wainwright High School (also known as WHS) is a public high school for grades 7–12 in Wainwright, Alberta, Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the P ...

East Central Alberta Catholic Separate Schools Regional Division No. 16 * Blessed Sacrament School *Blessed Sacrament Outreach School

Greater North Central Francophone Education Region No. 2 The Greater North Central Francophone Education Region No. 2, known in French as the Conseil scolaire Centre-Nord (CSCN), is one of Alberta's four French language school boards. French language education is intended for children who are eligible un ...

*École Saint-Christophe

Media

;Radio *

CKKY-FM CKKY-FM is a Canadian radio station that broadcasts at 101.9 FM in Wainwright, Alberta. The station is branded as '' Boom 101.9'' with a classic hits format and is owned by Stingray Group. History The station began broadcasting in 1984 as 1230 ...

/K-Rock 101.9 – provides old and new

rock music Rock music is a broad genre of popular music that originated as " rock and roll" in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of different styles in the mid-1960s and later, particularly in the United States an ...

* CKWY-FM/Wayne-FM – provides a mix of

classic hits Classic hits is a radio format which generally includes songs from the top 40 music charts from the late 1960s to the early 2000s, with music from the 1980s serving as the core of the format. Music that was popularized by MTV in the early 1980s ...

and

top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or " con ...

music ;Newspapers The ''Edge'' and ''The Star'' (formerly the ''Star Chronicle'') merged to be the ''Star/Edge'' in 2013. It is published weekly on Fridays.

Notable people

Glen Sather Glen Cameron “Slats” Sather (born September 2, 1943) is a Canadian ice hockey player, coach and executive. He is the current senior advisor and alternate governor of the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was the Rangers ...

, former NHL player, coach and general manager, and member of the

Hockey Hall of Fame , logo = Hockey Hall of Fame Logo.svg , logo_upright = 0.5 , image = Hockey Hall of Fame, Toronto.jpg , caption = The Hall's present location on Yonge Street since 1992 , map_type = , former_name = , established = 1943 , location = 30 Y ...

Lynn Seymour Lynn Seymour CBE (born 8 March 1939) is a Canadian-born retired ballerina, choreographer, and director. Early career She was born in Wainwright, Alberta, as Berta Lynn Springbett in a Canadian family of Scottish descent, and studied ballet in ...

, ballerina * Frank C. Turner, film and television actor, iconographer

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1909 establishments in Alberta Towns in Alberta