While the first Hudson's Bay Company trading post was established in 1897, the first permanent resident on the present day town site was John Goodwin, who settled there in 1905.

In early 1910, MLA Peter Gunn announced that a government wagon road had been opened from Entwistle to Whitecourt.

[11] With the expansion of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway in 1910, immigrants were encouraged by Premier Arthur Lewis Sifton to settle in the vast scarcely inhabited area between Edmonton and the Peace River Country.

[12][13] With the growth of settlement in the area and as it was on the route to the Pine Pass through the Rockies, the Canadian Northern Railway line was planned to be completed to Whitecourt in 1913.

The name conformed to the style of the name of Green Court, White's previous hometown, located nearby[14][15] Whitecourt has three identifiable geographic components: Whitecourt has a subarctic climate (Köppen Dfc), falling just short of a humid continental climate (Dfb) due to May and September having mean average temperatures just below 10 °C or 50 °F.

Winters are long and cold (though milder than many areas farther east, even at lower latitudes), and summers are fairly short and relatively warm.

[39] With some farm land to the south and east of Whitecourt, agriculture plays a minor role in the town's economy.

[45] The Forest Interpretive Centre includes a multi-media museum that presents the forestry industry's role in Whitecourt's history.

[50] Thompson played 25 games in the NHL between the Calgary Flames and Florida Panthers and was an assistant coach for the Edmonton Oilers in the National Hockey League.

As of 2023[update] the members of town council are Mayor Tom Pickard and councillors Tara Baker, Paul Chauvet, Braden Lanctot, Serena LaPointe, Bill McAree, and Derek Schlosser.

[55] Whitecourt is within the West Yellowhead provincial electoral district, which as of 2023[update] is represented by Martin Long of the United Conservative Party.

A resident of Whitecourt, VanderBurg was a businessman and the mayor of the town for nine years prior to his entry into provincial politics.

Pannu, former MLA for Edmonton-Strathcona and former leader of the Alberta New Democratic Party, taught high school in Whitecourt between 1962 and 1964.

[58] Sulatycky, judge and former MP for Rocky Mountain, was a lawyer and was elected the first Liberal to represent Whitecourt's constituency in 1968.

The CN Sangudo Subdivision provides rail service through Whitecourt from Edmonton to numerous gas plants south of Fox Creek.

Numerous local roads provide connections from Whitecourt to surrounding rural areas within Woodlands County.

On the Hilltop, 41 Avenue (Township Road 594A), which was the original highway alignment into Whitecourt, exits the town eastbound for the Hamlet of Blue Ridge.