title: Mayerthorpe
text: # Mayerthorpe
  
  Mayerthorpe /ˈmɛərθɔːrp/ is a town in central Alberta, Canada. It is approximately 120 km (75 mi) northwest of Edmonton at the intersection of Highway 43 and Highway 22 (Cowboy Trail). The town is surrounded by Lac Ste. Anne County and is in Alberta's Census Division No. 13.
  
  ## History
  
  The name of the post office, established in 1915, honours R. I. Mayer, the first postmaster. "Thorpe" is from the Old English for hamlet or village.
  
  Mayerthorpe incorporated as a village on March 5, 1927. It then incorporated as a town just over 34 years later on March 20, 1961.
  
  On March 3, 2005, four officers serving with the Mayerthorpe and Whitecourt detachments of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) were killed in the Mayerthorpe tragedy.
  
  On July 29, 2008, the Mayerthorpe Arena was destroyed by a fire. In 2011, after three years of planning and fundraising, the new arena, now called the Mayerthorpe Exhibition Centre, was officially opened.
  
  In 2016, a string of suspicious fires in the area resulted in the destruction of a CN trestle bridge. The bridge was rebuilt shortly thereafter, in about twenty days.
  
  ## Demographics
  
  In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, the Town of Mayerthorpe had a population of 1,259 living in 511 of its 572 total private dwellings, a change of -4.6% from its 2016 population of 1,320. With a land area of 4.39 $km^2$ (1.69 sq mi), it had a population density of $286.8/km^2$ (742.8/sq mi) in 2021.
  
  In the 2016 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, the Town of Mayerthorpe recorded a population of 1,320 living in 540 of its 600 total private dwellings, a -5.6% change from its 2011 population of 1,398. With a land area of 4.37 $km^2$ (1.69 sq mi), it had a population density of $302.1/km^2$ (782.3/sq mi) in 2016.
  
  ## Media
  
  The local weekly newspaper serving Mayerthorpe and area is the Mayerthorpe Freelancer.
  
  ## Sports
  
  The Whitecourt Wild Senior "AA" ice hockey team was added to the North Central Hockey League in 2013. The team plays in the Mayerthorpe Exhibition Centre.
  
  