Brian Horton has lived in Strathcona County his entire life and has watched it grow and develop from rural farmland in the 1950’s.
He grew up on a farm near Ardrossan, when the community only had a handful of houses and his nearest neighbour was a half mile away.
“We had a dairy farm for a number of years and in this area, that’s what more of the people did.”
Back then, Strathcona County didn’t have nearly as many amenities.
“There was no paved roads, there were no arenas, there was no fitness clubs of course,” Horton said.
Thankfully Edmonton was only a 35 minute drive away.
“You were able to commute to the city if you wanted. You had dentists and doctors and everybody there.”
In the 1970s Horton remembers the farms disappearing and land being subdivided to make room for houses. It was about the same time the refineries really started to take off.
“Strathcona County was told that it had to have some residential homes because it was going to have all the assessment of the flagship of the Esso refinery,” Iris Evans said.
Evans held numerous positions as an elected official in the county over the years.
With the refineries came a boom in the population of Sherwood Park. From just under 3,000 in 1961, it reached 14,000 a decade later and 29,000 by 1981. That growth brought additional development along with it.
“They were able to buy groceries at the one shopping centre and take their kids to the arena,” Iris recalled.
In 1996, Strathcona County became a specialized municipality to reflect its blend of city and rural living, while incorporating the tax base that is the refineries.
“The urban councillors recognized the industry is important and similarly, industry realized that their workers live in the hamlets and acreages in the country and there’s a communion of need here,” Evans said.
In recent years, places like Ardrossan have been attracting a lot of new construction as families move into the area.
Many of the county’s rural roads are now paved and new schools and recreation centres are also popping up.
“People who come here and get engaged at the community level, they want to stay,” Evans said.
What used to require Horton to commute to Edmonton, is now just a short drive to Sherwood Park – home to all the amenities a population of 100,000 brings.
“We used to go to Edmonton a lot, but now we have no reason to go to Edmonton,” he said.
Strathcona County is currently collecting population information in its online census. Residents are asked to complete it before May 13.
At last count, more than 98,000 people were calling Strathcona County home.
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