[1] Redwater was created in 1940 from most of the Sturgeon district and a part of Whitford, consisting of the area around Smoky Lake, with the North Saskatchewan River forming its southern boundary.

It underwent no boundary adjustments until abolished in 2004, with most of the riding transferred to Athabasca-Redwater and a small sliver to Barrhead-Morinville-Westlock.

[2] The riding's first MLA was James Popil, who had already served one term for Social Credit in Sturgeon and was re-elected twice in Redwater.

The Social Credit government then abolished instant-runoff voting because of the Liberal Party's resurgence, and Macyk was defeated in 1959 by their candidate, John Dubetz.

However, the governing Progressive Conservatives would capture the riding in the following year, with candidate Dave Broda defeating Balsillie in an equally close contest.

On October 30, 1957, a stand-alone plebiscite was held province wide in all 50 of the then current provincial electoral districts in Alberta.

The plebiscite was intended to deal with the growing demand for reforming antiquated liquor control laws.