{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2023}} {{Use Canadian English|date=January 2023}} {{Location map|Canada Alberta|lat=51.486831386|long=-111.6739|caption=Location of Sheerness Alberta|label=Sheerness}} '''Sheerness''' is a hamlet in southern Alberta, Canada that is under the jurisdiction of the Special Areas Board.<ref name=munilocations>{{AltaML}}</ref> Within Special Area No. 2,<ref>{{cite web | url=http://stds.statcan.gc.ca/sgc-cgt/2006/ersl-rerl-fin-eng.asp?criteria=4804004 | title=Standard Geographical Classification (SGC) 2006, Economic Regions: 4804004 – Special Area No. 2, geographical codes and localities, 2006 | publisher=Statistics Canada | date=March 5, 2010 | access-date=July 19, 2013 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130701023535/http://stds.statcan.gc.ca/sgc-cgt/2006/ersl-rerl-fin-eng.asp?criteria=4804004 | archive-date=July 1, 2013 }}</ref> it is {{convert|7|km}} east of Highway 36 and {{convert|102|km}} north of Brooks.
== Toponymy == Sheerness was named after a port town of the same name in Kent, England.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Alberta Culture |date=3 January 2025 |title=Sheerness |url=https://geospatial.alberta.ca/portal/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=a297e74e4fb4445db337df3850652862&extent=-12432954.2878%2C6707870.0286%2C-12431119.7992%2C6708694.1154%2C102100 |website=Alberta Geographical Names Web Map |at=Text visible upon selecting the yellow circle. |quote=The locality was named for Sheerness, a seaport in Kent, England. A post office operated here from 1910 to 1970; George Crozier was the first postmaster. A primary reason for its survival for many years is the abundance of coal in its proximity. The name was approved in 1951.}}</ref> The name was selected by English settler George Crozier, whose wife served as the first postmaster of Alberta's Sheerness.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |url=https://digitalcollections.ucalgary.ca/asset-management/2R3BF1OF34PEF |title=Roads to Rose Lynn: a history of the Rose Lynn, Halladay, Sheerness, Stanmore, Scotfield, Richdale and Berry Creek areas |date=1978 |publisher=Rose Lynn Book Club |editor-last=Gordon |editor-first=Agnes |location=Rose Lynn, Alberta |pages=94, 103, 286, 319, 325, 380, 405, 459 |via=University of Calgary}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Canada |first=Library and Archives |date=2016-11-25 |title=Sheerness Archives / Post Offices and Postmasters |url=https://recherche-collection-search.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/home/record?idnumber=22611&app=posoffposmas&resource=folderlist&ecopy= |access-date=2026-02-09 |website=recherche-collection-search.bac-lac.gc.ca}}</ref>
== History ==
=== Founding, railway and coal mining: 1905–1960 === Around the year 1905, the area that today contains Sheerness was used for grazing by cattle ranchers.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book |last=Fryer |first=Harold |title=Ghost towns of Alberta |date=1976 |publisher=Stagecoach Pub. Co |isbn=978-0-88983-004-2 |location=Langley, B.C |pages=70–73}}</ref> One local history provides that a rancher searching for a potential well site struck coal while digging, which subsequently attracted mining operations to the area.<ref name=":3" />
The settlement developed quickly enough that a Sheerness post office began operating in May 1910, and Sheerness School opened in 1913.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /> A hardware store, pool hall, and boarding house were operating in the townsite by 1914.<ref name=":1" /> Prior to the introduction of the railroad, coal was transported from Sheerness by horses and wagons.<ref name=":1" />
The Canadian National Railway built a railway line through the settlement in 1919, facilitating its growth.<ref name=":3" /> A community hall was established in the 1920s to host social events for locals, including dances and concerts, and the Alberta Pacific Company began operating a Sheerness grain elevator in 1923.<ref name=":1" /> During the late 1920s, Sheerness held a yearly stampede.<ref name=":1" />
Between 1943 and 1967 Sheerness' coal mines employed around 50 miners, producing up to 270,000 tons of coal a year.<ref name=":3" /> At its peak in the early 1950s, Sheerness contained around 150 residents.<ref name=":1" /> The Sheerness mine's largest contract was to supply the Saskatoon Power Plant with fuel.<ref name=":3" /> In 1948, the grain elevator was purchased by the Alberta Wheat Pool.<ref name=":1" />
=== Decline and later energy-based economy: 1961–present === In 1961, Sheerness' grain elevator closed down; it was dismantled two years later.<ref name=":1" /> Sheerness School closed in 1963, as a number of local schools were consolidated in Hanna.<ref name=":1" /> When the Saskatoon Power Plant switched to natural gas fuel in 1969, Sheerness' coal operations declined, and much of its permanent population relocated to Hanna.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":3" /> Other families moved due to the introduction of better highways in the area, which allowed them to commute.<ref name=":1" /> Its post office closed in April 1970.<ref name=":2" />
Until 1975, Sheerness' mine opened only during the winter months to supply the local domestic market.<ref name=":3" /> By 1976, however, demand for coal had increased enough that moderate operations restarted in the hamlet.<ref name=":3" /> Nonetheless, Sheerness contained approximately four permanent families by this time.<ref name=":3" /> Its now-disused community centre was dismantled in 1978.<ref name=":1" /> As of 2025, nothing of the original Sheerness townsite remains.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":3" /> thumb|Sheerness Generating Station, photographed in 2010 while still operating with coal fuel. Sheerness itself became the site of a power plant in 1986: Sheerness Generating Station.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Sheerness |url=https://transalta.com/about-us/our-operations/facilities/sheerness/ |access-date=2026-02-09 |website=TransAlta |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=POWER |date=2022-08-01 |title=Station Life Extension Through Coal-to-Gas Conversion |url=https://www.powermag.com/station-life-extension-through-coal-to-gas-conversion/ |access-date=2026-02-09 |website=POWER Magazine |language=en-US}}</ref> The Sheerness mine provided the plant with coal until 2021, when the station converted to natural gas.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Sheerness Generating Station |url=https://canadianpower.com/operations/sheerness-generating-station/ |access-date=2026-02-09 |website=Canadian Power |language=en-CA}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Chostner |first=Maeghan |date=24 October 2022 |title=Special Areas tours converted Sheerness Generating Station |url=https://www.hannaherald.com/news/special-areas-tours-converted-sheerness-generating-station |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20221024222045/https://www.hannaherald.com/news/special-areas-tours-converted-sheerness-generating-station |archive-date=2022-10-24 |access-date=2026-02-09 |work=hannaherald |language=en-CA}}</ref>
Sheerness Coal Mine began winding down operations in 2015 as part of the Government of Alberta's climate change strategy.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |last=Cruickshank |first=Nora |last2= |first2= |last3= |date=2017-01-31 |title=Hanna: How one Alberta town is using its history to survive coal crisis |url=https://calgaryjournal.ca/2017/01/31/alberta-small-town-is-using-their-history-to-survive-coal-crisis/ |access-date=2026-02-09 |website=Calgary Journal |language=en-US}}</ref> At this time, the mine employed 200 workers, primarily from the nearby town of Hanna.<ref name=":4" /> The announcement of the mine's impending closure was observed to have a negative effect on the mental health of workers, and also preceded a spike in domestic violence cases reported to the RCMP.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ciccarelli |first=Rick |last2=Lior |first2=Karen |last3=Shallhorn |first3=Steve |date=February 2, 2022 |title=When Coal Plants Shut Down |url=https://ourtimes.ca/article/when-coal-plants-shut-down |access-date=2026-02-09 |website=ourtimes.ca |language=en}}</ref> The mine closed in 2021.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Irwin |first=Jackie |date=13 January 2021 |title=End of an era as mine set to close |url=https://www.hannaherald.com/news/end-of-an-era-as-mine-set-to-close |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20240807145042/https://www.hannaherald.com/news/end-of-an-era-as-mine-set-to-close |archive-date=2024-08-07 |access-date=2026-02-09 |work=Hanna Herald |language=en-CA}}</ref>
== Economy == In 2021 Sheerness Coal Mine was repurposed into a soil amendment operation, selling naturally-occurring humalite found in the mine to agricultural buyers.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Miller |first=Sarah |date=17 February 2021 |title=Alberta Mine Product on the Forefront of Farm Productivity |url=https://www.discoverhumboldt.com/articles/alberta-mine-product-on-the-forefront-of-farm-productivity |access-date=2026-02-09 |website=Discover Humboldt}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Kolafa |first=Pat |date=2024-11-23 |title=Mine at Sheerness retooled for emerging ag industry product |url=https://www.drumhellermail.com/news/36605-mine-at-sheerness-retooled-for-emerging-ag-industry-product |access-date=2026-02-09 |website=Drumheller Mail |language=en-gb}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=January 12, 2024 |title=WestMET Ag Transforms Coal Mine to Prairieland |url=https://westmetgroup.com/2024/01/12/westmet-ag-transforms-coal-mine-to-prairieland/ |access-date=2026-02-09 |language=en-US}}</ref> Also in 2024, construction began on Sheerness Industrial Park and Reservoir.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gutsche |first=Candace |date=2024-06-05 |title=Harvest Sky Region Busy with Canada Coal Transition Initiative Infrastructure Projects this Summer – Special Areas Board |url=https://specialareas.ab.ca/2024/06/ccti-projects-2024/ |access-date=2026-02-09 |language=en-CA}}</ref> The project, completed in early 2025, created industrial lots across 320 acres of land, supported by a dedicated water reservoir.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Government of Alberta |title=Sheerness Industrial Park |url=https://majorprojects.alberta.ca/Error?aspxerrorpath=/details/Sheerness-Industrial-Park/11476 |access-date=2026-02-09 |website=majorprojects.alberta.ca}}</ref>
In December 2025 the Sheerness Generating Station announced that it would temporarily deactivate one generator beginning in April 2026, for a period of up to two years.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Harris |first=Ben |date=2025-12-18 |title=TransAlta Provides Notice to Mothball Sheerness Unit 1 |url=https://transalta.com/newsroom/transalta-provides-notice-to-mothball-sheerness-unit-1/ |access-date=2026-02-09 |website=TransAlta |language=en-US}}</ref>
== Amenities == Sheerness Cooling Pond, a reservoir measuring two miles by two miles (3.2 by 3.2 kilometers) that cools the Sheerness Generating Station, is part of Prairie Oasis Park.<ref name=":5">{{Cite web |last=Milner |first=Marie |date=2014-02-28 |title=RVers favour Alberta's Prairie Oasis Park |url=https://www.rvwest.com/article/canada/rvers_favour_prairie_oasis_park |access-date=2026-02-09 |website=www.rvwest.com |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Cooper |first=Nathan |date=2017-08-16 |title=The things we take for granted |url=https://threehillscapital.com/news/7759-the-things-we-take-for-granted |access-date=2026-02-09 |website=The Capital |language=en-gb}}</ref> Visitors can bathe, participate in water-based sports, walk dogs, or access beaches on the pond's shores.<ref name=":5" />
== Demographics == Nothing of the 20th century Sheerness townsite remains as of 2025, but the area contains several properties and agricultural operations.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":3" />
== See also == *List of hamlets in Alberta
== References == {{Reflist}}
{{Subdivisions of Alberta}} Category:Hamlets in Alberta {{coord|51|29|21|N|111|40|44|W|scale:60000_region:CA|display=title|name=Sheerness}}