Fort Fitzgerald

{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2023}} {{Use Canadian English|date=January 2023}} {{Infobox settlement |name = Fitzgerald |other_name = Fort Fitzgerald<br/>Smith's Landing |settlement_type = Hamlet / locality |motto = |image_skyline = |image_caption = |pushpin_map = Canada Alberta |pushpin_map_caption = Location of Fitzgerald in Alberta |coordinates = {{coord|59|51|35|N|111|36|15|W|region:CA-AB|display=inline,title}} |subdivision_type = Country |subdivision_name = Canada |subdivision_type1 = Province |subdivision_name1 = Alberta |subdivision_type2 = Region |subdivision_name2 = Northern Alberta |subdivision_type3 = Census division |subdivision_name3 = 16 |subdivision_type4 = Specialized municipality |subdivision_name4 = RM of Wood Buffalo |government_footnotes= <ref name="council">{{Wood Buffalo Municipal Council|ref}}</ref> |leader_title = Mayor |leader_name = {{Wood Buffalo Municipal Council|mayor}} |leader_title1 = Governing body |leader_name1 = {{Wood Buffalo Municipal Council}} |established_title = |established_date = |established_title2 = |established_date2 = |unit_pref = metric |area_footnotes = |area_total_km2 = |area_land_km2 = |area_water_km2 = |population_as_of = 2021 |population_footnotes= <ref name=FortFitz/> |population_note = |population_total = 6 |timezone1 = MST |utc_offset1 = −7 |timezone1_DST = MDT |utc_offset1_DST = −6 |elevation_footnotes = |elevation_m = 200 |postal_code_type = Postal code |postal_code = T0V 1A0 |area_code = +1-867 |website = {{URL|https://www.rmwb.ca/en/indigenous-and-rural-relations/fort-fitzgerald.aspx|RM of Wood Buffalo page}} }}

'''Fitzgerald''', also known as '''Fort Fitzgerald''' and originally '''Smith's Landing''', is an unincorporated community in northern Alberta, Canada. The hamlet<ref name=municodes>{{AltaMC}}</ref> portion of the community (Fort Fitzgerald) is within the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo, while the locality portion (Fitzgerald) is Thebathi 196. It is {{convert|15.4|km|abbr=on}} south of the Northwest Territories border and {{convert|23|km|abbr=on}} southeast of Fort Smith.

== History == [[File:Radium Queen at the Fort Fitzgerald docks, July 1, 1937.jpg|left|thumb|The ''Radium Queen'', and other tugboats, pushed barges to and from the portage at Fort Fitzgerald to the railhead at Waterways, Alberta.]] 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.<ref>''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.</ref> The community was known as Smith's Landing until 1915 when it was renamed Fort Fitzgerald after the late Francis Joseph Fitzgerald.<ref name="name">{{cite web|title=Fort Fitzgerald|url=http://www.rmwb.ca/living/Communities/Fort-Fitzgerald.htm|website=Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo|accessdate=May 19, 2016|archive-date=May 19, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160519220748/http://www.rmwb.ca/living/Communities/Fort-Fitzgerald.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref>

== Demographics == {{stack|{{Historical populations | title = Population history<br/>of Fort Fitzgerald | type = Canada | align = left | width = | shading = | percentages = | state = | footnote = | source = ''Statistics Canada''<br/><ref name=1951census>{{Canadian census unincorporated place results|year=1951}}</ref><ref name=1956census>{{Canadian census unincorporated place results|year=1956}}</ref><ref name=1961census>{{Canadian census unincorporated place results|year=1961}}</ref><ref name=1966census>{{Canadian census unincorporated place results|year=1966}}</ref><ref name=1971census>{{Canadian census unincorporated place results|year=1971}}</ref><ref name=1981census>{{Canadian census unincorporated place results|year=1981}}</ref><ref name=1986census>{{Canadian census unincorporated place results|year=1986}}</ref><ref name=1991census>{{Canadian census unincorporated place results|year=1991}}</ref> |1941|210 |1951|155 |1956|101 |1961|149 |1966|68 |1971|27 |1981|27 |1986|16 |1991{{abbr|E|estimated}}|26 }}}}

Fort Fitzgerald had a population of 6 people in the 2021 Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo census.<ref name=FortFitz>{{cite web | url=https://www.rmwb.ca/en/indigenous-and-rural-relations/fort-fitzgerald.aspx | title=Fort Fitzgerald | publisher=Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo | accessdate=September 1, 2025}}</ref> The population living in Thebathi 196 in the federal 2016 census was 20,<ref name="2016census">{{cite web|title=2016 Census Profile - Thebathi 196|url=http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/dp-pd/prof/details/Page.cfm?Lang=E&Geo1=CSD&Code1=4816860&Geo2=PR&Code2=48&Data=Count&SearchText=Fitzgerald&SearchType=Begins&SearchPR=01&B1=All|website=Statistics Canada|publisher=Government of Canada|accessdate=November 23, 2017}}</ref> a 33.3% decrease from the 2011 census which had a population of 30.<ref name="2011census">{{cite web|title=2011 Census Profile - Thebathi 196|url=http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2011/dp-pd/prof/details/Page.cfm?Lang=E&Geo1=CSD&Code1=4816860&Geo2=PR&Code2=01&Data=Count&SearchText=Fitzgerald&SearchType=Begins&SearchPR=01&B1=All&Custom=|website=Statistics Canada|publisher=Government of Canada|accessdate=November 23, 2017}}</ref>

== Infrastructure == left|thumb|Smith's Landing, circa 1910 Most of the community's services are provided from Fort Smith, including fire, law enforcement, health care, social services, and telecommunications.<ref name="about">{{cite web|title=Fort Fitzgerald Where We Are Today|url=http://www.rmwb.ca/Assets/Departments/Planning+and+Development/Long+Range+Planning/Envision+Wood+Buffalo/PDF/background_report_ftfitz.pdf|website=Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo|accessdate=May 19, 2016|page=6|date=May 2008|archive-date=May 5, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160505045148/http://www.rmwb.ca/Assets/Departments/Planning+and+Development/Long+Range+Planning/Envision+Wood+Buffalo/PDF/background_report_ftfitz.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> Law enforcement is part of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police 'G division' in the Northwest Territories.<ref name="about"/> 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.<ref>{{cite web|title=Canadian Numbering Plan and Dialling Plan|url=http://www.cnac.ca/canadian_dial_plan/Canadian_Numbering_and_Dial_Plan.pdf|publisher=The Canadian Steering Committee on Numbering (CSCN)|accessdate=March 26, 2014|date=October 26, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131105012402/http://www.cnac.ca/canadian_dial_plan/Canadian_Numbering_and_Dial_Plan.pdf|archive-date=November 5, 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref>

An all-weather road, named Hay Camp Road, links Fort Smith and Hay Camp through Fitzgerald.<ref>{{cite web|title=Map of Wood Buffalo National Park|url=http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/pn-np/nt/woodbuffalo/visit/visit7/visit8.aspx|website=Parks Canada|publisher=Government of Canada|accessdate=May 8, 2016}}</ref>

== References == {{Reflist}}

== External links == *[http://www.woodbuffalo.ab.ca/ Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo] **[https://www.rmwb.ca/en/indigenous-and-rural-relations/fort-fitzgerald.aspx Fort Fitzgerald]

Category:Hamlets in Alberta Category:Localities on Indian reserves in Alberta