Wainwright

Wainwright, Alta, incorporated as a town in 1910, population 5925 (2011c), 5426 (2006c). The Town of Wainwright is located 200 km southeast of Edmonton. The first settlement, Denwood, established in 1906, was moved in its entirety to a railway divisional point 4 km away in 1908. This new site was named for William Wainwright, second VP of the Grand Trunk Pacific Ry. It developed as the administrative and distributing centre of an extensive farming area. Oil and gas were discovered in 1922 and are piped from some 400 wells.

In 1909 Bison Recovery Park was established nearby, but the BISON were moved elsewhere and the park was converted to CFB Camp Wainwright during WWII. A few bison were returned in 1980. The Wainwright Museum features a reconstructed post office (c 1900), and an early oil rig is preserved in Petroleum Park. The weekly newspaper is the Wainwright Star-Chronicle.