Sherwood Park

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

Hamlets within the province of Alberta are used when an urban centre is governed by the county which it is located within, regardless of the size geographically and population wise. There are three hamlets which are governed by the county of Strathcona, consisting of Josephburg, Sherwood Park and Ardrossan.

The Saulteaux and Cree Nations were the very first inhabitants within the region until a lot of Europeans began arriving and settling within the region in the late 18th century. The major food source of the First Nation people was buffalo, that were abundant in the region. Nevertheless, the Native's way of life was extremely disrupted by the arrival of the European people, 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 in 1954. In 1996, Strathcona County was designated as a "specialized municipality" to be able to help solve several of the problems which arose from being an area which included both urban and rural territory.

Presently, the economy within 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 which hosts several of the largest industrial facilities in the nation. The crime rate in the hamlet is really low, with the violent crime rate hovering near zero.