The Radium Queen, and other tugboats, pushed barges to and from the portage at Fort Fitzgerald to the railhead at Waterways, Alberta.Smith's Landing, circa 1910
Prior to the extension of railway service to Hay River, Northwest Territories, on Great Slave Lake, all cargo being shipped to or from the north had to be portaged from Fitzgerald to Fort Smith, to avoid four impassable rapids.[2] The community was known as Smith's Landing until 1915 when it was renamed Fort Fitzgerald after the late Francis Joseph Fitzgerald.[3]
Services
Most of the community's services are provided from Fort Smith, including fire, law enforcement, health care, social services, and telecommunications.[4] Law enforcement is part of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police 'G division' in the Northwest Territories.[4] Since telecommunication services, including cellular and internet, are from Fort Smith, Northwest Territories, the area code is 867, although Fitzgerald is located in what would be area code 780 in Alberta.[5]
An all-weather road, named Hay Camp Road, links Fort Smith and Hay Camp through Fitzgerald.[6]
Demographics
Fitzgerald had a population of 8 people in the 2018 Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo census.[7] The population of the Thebathi 196 Indian Reserve in the federal 2016 census was 20,[8] a 33.3% decrease from the 2011 census which had a population of 30.[9]
^On the Banks of the Slave: A History of the Community of Fort Smith, Northwest Territories. Published by the Tourism Committee of Fort Smith, Department of Education Northwest Territories, 1979.
^"Fort Fitzgerald". Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo. Archived from the original on May 19, 2016. Retrieved May 19, 2016.
^ a b"Fort Fitzgerald Where We Are Today" (PDF). Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo. May 2008. p. 6. Retrieved May 19, 2016.
^"Canadian Numbering Plan and Dialling Plan" (PDF). The Canadian Steering Committee on Numbering (CSCN). October 26, 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 5, 2013. Retrieved March 26, 2014.
^"Map of Wood Buffalo National Park". Parks Canada. Government of Canada. Retrieved May 8, 2016.
^"The Municipal Census 2015 Report" (PDF). Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo. p. 52. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 5, 2016. Retrieved May 10, 2016.
^"2016 Census Profile - Thebathi 196". Statistics Canada. Government of Canada. Retrieved November 23, 2017.
^"2011 Census Profile - Thebathi 196". Statistics Canada. Government of Canada. Retrieved November 23, 2017.
^"Climate Regions". Archives - Environment Canada. Environment Canada. Archived from the original on September 9, 2015. Retrieved May 19, 2016.
^"Fitzgerald, Canada". The Weather Channel. Channel, LLC. Retrieved May 15, 2016.
External links
Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo
Fort Fitzgerald Archived May 19, 2016, at the Wayback Machine