Plamondon is a hamlet

Hamlet (place)

A hamlet is usually a rural settlement which is too small to be considered a village, though sometimes the word is used for a different sort of community. Historically, when a hamlet became large enough to justify building a church, it was then classified as a village...

 in northern Alberta

Northern Alberta

Northern Alberta is a region located in the Canadian province of Alberta.Its primary industry is oil and gas, with large heavy oil reserves being exploited at the Athabasca Oil Sands and Wabasca Area in the east of the region...

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 within Lac La Biche County. It is located on Highway 858, approximately 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) north of Highway 55, and has an elevation of 555 metres (1,820.9 ft).

The hamlet is located in census division

Census division

Census division is an official term in Canada and the United States. The census divisions of Canada are second-level census geographic unit, below provinces and territories, and above "census subdivisions" and "dissemination areas". In provinces where they exist, the census division may correspond...

 No. 12

Division No. 12, Alberta

Division No. 12 is a census division in Alberta, Canada. Including the City of Cold Lake, the majority of the division is located in the northeast corner of central Alberta, while the northern portion of the division is located within northern Alberta....

 and in the federal riding

Alberta federal electoral districts

As of 2006, the province of Alberta has 28 electoral districts represented in the Canadian House of Commons.*Calgary Centre*Calgary Centre-North*Calgary East*Calgary Northeast*Calgary Southeast*Calgary Southwest*Calgary West*Calgary—Nose Hill*Crowfoot...

 of Fort McMurray-Athabasca.

History

The community was founded by Joseph Plamondon in 1905, and settled by primarily French Canadians. Most of the families that eventually settled there came from Provemont, Michigan (now Leelanau County, Michigan

Leelanau County, Michigan

-History:The county's name is said to be a Native American word meaning "delight of life", but it is a neologism made up by Indian agent and ethnographer Henry Schoolcraft, who sometimes gave the name "Leelinau" to Native American women in his tales. He created many faux Indian place names in...

) and from French areas of Ontario.

On the outskirts of Plamondon is a community of Old Believers

Old Believers

In the context of Russian Orthodox church history, the Old Believers separated after 1666 from the official Russian Orthodox Church as a protest against church reforms introduced by Patriarch Nikon between 1652–66...

, a Traditionalist Russian Orthodox sect whose ancestors broke from the Church after Patriarch Nikon

Patriarch Nikon

Nikon , born Nikita Minin , was the seventh patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church...

's reforms in 1666. The schism, or Raskol, resulted over reforms in church ritual and translation intended to better align the Russian church with Greek Orthodox practices. The Old Believers that live outside Plamondon are bezpopovtsy, or priestless Old Believers, who believe that apostolic succession ended with Nikon's apostasy and therefore have no clergy and refuse the Eucharist. Most of these families moved to the area in the mid 1960's from Woodburn, Oregon

Woodburn, Oregon

Woodburn is a city in Marion County, Oregon, United States. Incorporated in 1889, the community had been platted in 1871 after the arrival of the railroad. The city is located in the northern end of the Willamette Valley along Interstate 5 between Portland and Salem...

, also home to a large Old Believer community. Many also came from Xinjiang province, China, by way of New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

, where they fled after the Communist revolutions in Russia and China.

Amenities

The community has two schools, the larger one French/English bilingual and a smaller French school called Ecole Beausejour, which draw students from the entire region.

There are two hotels, two banks, post office, indoor hockey arena with artificial ice, a museum, and a rather large church.

The hamlet also holds an annual french hockey tournament. Frontenacs of University of Alberta have won twice. A Canadian Mud Racing Organization (CMRO) event is also held annually at the Plamondon Mud Bog.

Demographics

As of 2006, Plamondon had a total population of 335 living in 128 dwellings. With a land area of 1.94 km² (0.749038187669518 sq mi), it has a population density

Population density

Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...

 of 172.8 /km2.

Industry Canada shows that Plamondon's greater rural area had a total population of 2,596 living in 1,130 dwellings in 2001. With a land area of 1882.2 km² (726.7 sq mi), its greater rural area has a population density

Population density

Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...

of 12 /km2.