Fort McMurray's history is as interesting as the city's beauty. The first people who stayed in the Fort McMurray region were the Cree who admired the rich oil sands in the region. These oil sands were used to seal their canoes. When Europeans reached Fort McMurray in 1778, that was the time that the whole region was explored.

A European explorer named Peter Pond went to McMurray to look for furs to sell. He was able to see and travel the location further south along the exceptional Athabasca River and the cold Clearwater River. However, it was only in 1790 that a man recorded the characteristics of the rich oil sands. He was Alexander MacKenzie, a Scottish-Canadian explorer and he wrote that the Cree and the explorers gathered in the Athabasca and Clearwater Rivers to trade commodities. Firms like the North West Company and the Hudson's Bay Company were leading in the trade competition that time.

Since Fort McMurray boasts of its luxurious oil sands, this town greatly participated in developing the petroleum business of Canada. In the 20th century, numerous oil explorations occurred in the village and it was in 1921 that people developed McMurray's oil industry. A refining plant that would separate the sands from the oil that was created. The first bulk tests was led by the firm Alcan Oil Company and in 1925, the residents of Fort McMurray first experienced to ride train. In the 1930's, the company Abasands Oil became successful in isolating oil from the sands. The village's potential to produce oil was recognized by the Canadian and U.S. forces hence, during the World War I, Fort McMurray was the Canol project's staging ground.

By 1947, Waterways and Fort McMurray were merged as the McMurray village. After a year, McMurray was officially called a town. Several years after that, Fort McMurray's economy boosted because of their competent oil industry.