New Norway is a hamlet located in

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 Camrose County. Named in 1895, it is located on Highway 21, approximately southeast of

Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

and southwest of Camrose. New Norway is home to a number of small businesses, and has an elementary and secondary school, local fire protection and municipal services provided by Camrose County.

History

In 1892, travelling first on the newly constructed

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway () , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadian Pacific Kansas City, Canadian Pacific Ka ...

(CPR) line, the Ole M. Olstad family disembarked in

Wetaskiwin Wetaskiwin ( ) is a city in the province of Alberta, Canada. The city is located south of the provincial capital of Edmonton. The city name comes from the Cree word , meaning "the hills where peace was made". Wetaskiwin is home to the Reyn ...

and made their way to the Duhamel settlement, which had been established for some years. The family quickly filed ''

Dominion Lands Act The ''Dominion Lands Act'' () was an 1872 Canadian law that aimed to encourage the settlement of the Canadian Prairies and to help prevent the area being claimed by the United States. The Act was closely based on the U.S. '' Homestead Act of 186 ...

'' homesteads a few miles south for themselves and several relatives and friends in the United States. In addition, they purchased available CPR land for $3.00 per

acre The acre ( ) is a Unit of measurement, unit of land area used in the Imperial units, British imperial and the United States customary units#Area, United States customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one Chain (unit), ch ...

($7.41/ ha). For a time the area was known as the "Olstead District". However, as other Norwegian families (along with those of other nationalities) settled in the area, the name changed to New Norway around 1895. By 1903 the fledgling community had a school, general store, and a

blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from #Other metals, other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such ...

shop to its credit. In the fall of 1909, in anticipation of the new Grand Trunk Pacific rail line being built nearby, the community was moved (by the use of skids and seven

oxen An ox (: oxen), also known as a bullock (in BrE, British, AusE, Australian, and IndE, Indian English), is a large bovine, trained and used as a draft animal. Oxen are commonly castration, castrated adult male cattle, because castration i ...

) to its present location NW-11-45-21-W4 (see

Dominion Land Survey The Dominion Land Survey (DLS; ) is the method used to divide most of Western Canada into one-square-mile (2.6 km2) sections for agricultural and other purposes. It is based on the layout of the Public Land Survey System used in the United St ...

). According to the '' Camrose Canadian'', the townsite of New Norway was put on sale on October 14, 1909, with 14 businesses filing an intent to establish within the first month. Commercial lots sold from $100 to $250, and residential lots were priced from $50 to $150. New Norway incorporated as a village on May 6, 1910, and its first council was elected on May 9, 1910, with Norman M. Smith, James F. Willows and Evan O. Olstad serving. Over a century later, the Village of New Norway was dissolved to hamlet status under the jurisdiction of Camrose County effective November 1, 2012.

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; ), 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 culture. It is headquartered in ...

, New Norway had a population of 307 living in 129 of its 138 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 320. 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, New Norway had a population of 320 living in 126 of its 136 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2011 population of 278. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2016.

References

:* ''Memory Opens the Door - New Norway and District 1972''. (Local History book, no ISBN) {{coord, 52, 52, 09.0, N, 112, 57, 18.1, W, scale:60000, display=title 2012 disestablishments in Alberta Camrose County Designated places in Alberta Former villages in Alberta Hamlets in Alberta Populated places disestablished in 2012 Norwegian Canadian settlements

History

Demographics

See also

References