Wildwood, Alberta


Wildwood is a hamlet in west-central Alberta, Canada within Yellowhead County. It is located on the Yellowhead Highway, approximately west of Edmonton and east of Edson. The Yellowhead Highway's intersection with Cowboy Trail is east of the hamlet. The Lobstick River, which flows from Chip Lake to the west, runs through the hamlet.
Statistics Canada recognizes Wildwood as a designated place.

History

Originally named Junkins, Wildwood was established in 1908 by a group of 20 African-American immigrants as a block settlement. The new Black Canadian homesteaders arrived from Oklahoma and Texas, just three years after Alberta became a province in 1905. The railway arrived in Junkins in 1908. People arriving at "end of steel" transferred their goods to wagons and travelled to their homesteads.

Demographics

As a designated place in the 2016 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Wildwood recorded a population of 273 living in 139 of its 157 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2011 population of 294. With a land area of, it had a population density of in 2016.
In the 2011 Census, Wildwood had a population of 294 living in 149 of its 167 total dwellings, a 6.1% change from its 2006 population of 277. With a land area of, it had a population density of in 2011.