Tucked into the rolling landscape of Foothills County, roughly 70 kilometres southeast of Calgary along Highway 799, the hamlet of Blackie offers a quiet slice of small-town Alberta life. The community carries its name from John Stuart Blackie, a Scottish scholar whose legacy lives on in this corner of southern Alberta. Blackie was once incorporated as a village, achieving that status on December 30, 1912, before transitioning back to hamlet standing on August 31, 1997.
According to the 2021 Census conducted by Statistics Canada, Blackie was home to 360 residents occupying 144 of its 153 private dwellings. That figure reflects a notable increase of 14.6% compared to the 314 people recorded in the 2016 Census, which itself represented a decline of 8.5% from the 343 residents counted in 2011. The hamlet covers a land area of 0.76 square kilometres, giving it a population density of roughly 474 people per square kilometre. Blackie has also produced some recognisable names, including professional hockey players Jeremy Colliton and Pat Egan, as well as former Member of the Legislative Assembly George Groeneveld, who represented the Highwood constituency from November 2004 to April 2012.