"Sometimes the spirit of a place is so strong you may think you see its face and glimpse it gambling over a field or peeking out of a forest.” - Thomas Moore, The Re-Enchantment of Everyday Life
“My ease comes from a growing self-understanding precipitated by the linkages to different ages of myself that this place provides. This is a deep human imperative …”
- Robert Archibald, A Place to Remember
What is “a sense of place”? It creeps up on you, a growing feeling of comfort and security, of belonging and of community. It comes, gradually, through an increasing understanding of the land and how we have interacted with it. It leaves you with a deeper knowledge of our history and our place in it. It creates an identity with one’s community.
From the wooded hills and wetlands of the Beaver Hills to the undulating plains dotted with farms, small hamlets and industry, Strathcona County has been home to many people from many different backgrounds. Discover these special places and understand what it is to have a sense of place.
Read about the County’s most biologically diverse area, the Beaver Hills, our natural history, to learn about this extensive upland with its “knob and kettle” topography.
Places names such as Bremner, Castle, Franklin and Colchester are scattered throughout our rural districts. Some were only a post office or a school; others evolved into hamlets.
Sherwood Park is the creation of a developer’s vision in the 1950s to build a community to serve the new petrochemical industries in the County. Today it is the province’s largest hamlet.
We cannot forget our historic buildings and sites, for it is they that are a direct link to our past.
Map of early communities in Strathcona County
