La Crete ( ), also spelled La Crête, 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 ...

northern Alberta Northern Alberta is a geographic region located in the Canadian province of Alberta. An informally defined cultural region, the boundaries of Northern Alberta are not fixed. Under some schemes, the region encompasses everything north of the cen ...

, Canada, within Mackenzie County. It is located on Highway 697, approximately southeast of

High Level High Level is a town in northern Alberta, Canada. It is located at the intersection of the Mackenzie Highway (Highway 35) and Highway 58, approximately north of Edmonton and south of Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. High Level is located wi ...

and north 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 an ...

. The hamlet is located in Census Division No. 17 and in the federal riding of

Peace River—Westlock Peace River—Westlock is a federal electoral district in Alberta, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 2015. Peace River—Westlock was created by the 2012 federal electoral boundaries redistribution and w ...

. The name "La Crête" means "the ridge" in French, which is how the earliest settlers described the area they settled.

History

La Crete was first settled in 1914 as La Crête Landing. When the first

Mennonite Mennonites are groups of Anabaptist Christian church communities of denominations. The name is derived from the founder of the movement, Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland. Through his writings about Reformed Christianity during the R ...

s arrived in the 1930s, they settled a short distance southwest of the original settlement on the current site of La Crete. When the first highways were built into the area in the 1960s, the population began to increase as new settlers arrived, and in 1979, La Crete was declared a hamlet.

Geography

The Hamlet of La Crete is west of Highway 697, mostly between Township Road 1060 and Township Road 1062 (109 Avenue). Lake Tourangeau is adjacent to the hamlet to the northwest.

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 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 cultu ...

, La Crete had a population of 3,856 living in 1,329 of its 1,397 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 3,396. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021. The residents of La Crete typically speak English or German.

Attractions

La Crete has walking trails that were paved using donations from local residents. There is a

Heritage Village sited on "10 acres of land homesteaded by Henry H. Peters in 1950".

Economy

The local economy is centered around agriculture and forestry.

Sports

La Crete holds a hockey tournament every year known as the Challenge Cup, where teams from all over

come to challenge each other in hopes of winning the trophy. The La Crete Public High School's men's and women's basketball teams host an annual basketball tournament, The Northern Exposure Hoop Classic. It has been held every year since 2004, and has grown in stature to include teams from across Alberta. There is a waiting list to get into the Hoop Classic, even though the number of teams invited has increased.

Government

A ward boundary bisects the Hamlet of La Crete, which results in it having representation on Mackenzie County Council by two councillors. Ward 3, which is west of 99 Street, is represented by Peter Braun, while Ward 4, which is east of 99 Street, is represented by David Driedger.

Transportation

During the summer months the La Crete Ferry, also known as the Tompkins Landing Ferry, one of only seven ferries still operating in Alberta, shuttles vehicles across the

Peace River The Peace River (french: links=no, rivière de la Paix) is a river in Canada that originates in the Rocky Mountains of northern British Columbia and flows to the northeast through northern Alberta. The Peace River joins the Athabasca River in ...

on Highway 697 about 70 kilometres southwest of the hamlet. In the winter, an

ice bridge An ice bridge is a frozen natural structure formed over seas, bays, rivers or lake surfaces. They facilitate migration of animals or people over a water body that was previously uncrossable by terrestrial animals, including humans. The most si ...

is maintained at the same spot. This access connects La Crete to the

Mackenzie Highway The Mackenzie Highway is a Canadian highway in northern Alberta and the Northwest Territories. It begins as Alberta Highway 2 at ''Mile Zero'' in Grimshaw, Alberta. After the first , it becomes Alberta Highway 35 for the balance of its lengt ...

near Paddle Prairie, offering a considerable time saving when travelling to or from La Crete. During the spring and fall, when the river is unfit for the ferry and the ice too thin to support vehicle traffic, or at other times when the ferry is not operational, travellers must continue north to High Level, then east on Highway 58 before coming back south to reach La Crete. In the summer of 2006 a

sandbar In oceanography, geomorphology, and geoscience, a shoal is a natural submerged ridge, bank, or bar that consists of, or is covered by, sand or other unconsolidated material and rises from the bed of a body of water to near the surface. ...

formed in the centre of the river, where the ferry normally crossed, forcing it to travel around it. The sandbar has grown to such a size that the ferry does not always run if the water level is too low.

Notable people

High Valley High Valley is a Canadian country music band from Blumenort, Alberta, a small community near the hamlet of La Crete. The group is composed of Brad Rempel (lead vocals) and his supporting band, Dave Myers (bass guitar), Sam Bergeson (vocals), Ray ...

, country music band

References

{{Authority control Hamlets in Alberta Designated places in Alberta Mackenzie County Mennonitism in Canada