Roughly 60 kilometres east of Edmonton, at the intersection of Highway 15 and Highway 831, sits the town of Lamont in central Alberta. The surrounding area has a long history of settlement, stretching back to the 1880s, when the Victoria Trail – a plains route used by travellers moving between Edmonton and Winnipeg – helped bring activity and growth to the region. The town takes its name from John Henderson Lamont, a Canadian politician honoured when the community was formally established. A Royal Mail Canada post office arrived in 1906, the community became a village in 1910, and the Lamont Hospital opened its doors in 1912 to serve the broader region. One of the most sobering events in the town’s history occurred on November 29, 1960, when a school bus carrying students from nearby Chipman was struck by a train at a crossing on the east side of town, claiming the lives of 17 students.
According to the 2021 Census of Population, Lamont was home to 1,744 residents living in 684 of its 743 private dwellings, representing a slight decline of 1.7% from the 1,774 people recorded in 2016. The town covers a land area of 9.14 square kilometres, yielding a population density of approximately 190.8 people per square kilometre. Local news is served by the Lamont Leader, a weekly newspaper. The town has produced several notable figures over the years, including former Premier of Alberta Ed Stelmach, Indigenous women’s rights advocate Muriel Stanley Venne, professional hockey player Gene Achtymichuk, professional football player Del Thachuk, and former Member of Canadian Parliament Brian O’Kurley.