In 1989, local resident Roy Chimiuk used a minimum bounding box method to place a cairn marking the exact location at 54°30′N 115°0′W / 54.500°N 115.000°W / 54.500; -115.000, about 30 kilometres south of the town.

[7] Initially a base camp for workers in the Swan Hills oilfield, accommodations and facilities were moved from a nearby site and jointly developed in the present location by the government of Alberta and oil companies between 1959 and 1961.

[8] Casually nicknamed 'Oil Hills',[9] the town's official name was taken from the area of densely forested uplands in which it is located, although 'Chalmers' was also considered,[10] after T.W.

[8] Two teachers provided instruction for forty students in the first two-room school, which was quickly replaced by a seven-room building due to the rapidly increasing population as oil field workers began to relocate their families to the town.

[8] In November 1965, Swan Hills became the most northerly town in Alberta to be served with natural gas by Northwestern Utilities.

Swan Hills' wilderness setting makes it a popular year-round destination for nature enthusiasts and outdoor sports including camping, hunting, fishing, trapping and ATV riding.