In the late 19th century, a boxcar was located on a rail siding in what is now Barnwell. It was used as a telegraph office for local settlers and the railroad, and the area was named Woodpecker. In 1908, the area was renamed Bountiful to correspond to the local school district. A short while later, it was renamed to Barnwell because another community already had the name of Bountiful. The name Barnwell came from William Barnwell, a longtime employee of the Canadian Pacific Railway.[4]
In the early 1900s migrating members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, colonized Barnwell as well as other Southern Alberta areas. "By 1911 Latter-day Saints had established eighteen new communities in southern Alberta, and 10,000 Saints, mostly farmers and their families, lived in the area of southwest Alberta alone."[5][6][4]
In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, the Village of Barnwell had a population of 978 living in 257 of its 264 total private dwellings, a change of 3.3% from its 2016 population of 947. With a land area of 1.5 km2 (0.58 sq mi), it had a population density of 652.0/km2 (1,688.7/sq mi) in 2021.[3]
In the 2016 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, the Village of Barnwell recorded a population of 947 living in 260 of its 266 total private dwellings, a 22.8% change from its 2011 population of 771. With a land area of 1.51 km2 (0.58 sq mi), it had a population density of 627.2/km2 (1,624.3/sq mi) in 2016.[7]
The population of the Village of Barnwell according to its 2015 municipal census is 960, a 18.2% change from its 2011 municipal census population of 812.[8]
