Historical Highlights

HISTORICAL HIGHLIGHTS

1867 The Year of Confederation. Sir John A. Macdonald produced his "National Policy" which called for the construction of a transcontinental railroad which would encourage settlement of the West.

1880

1881 An agreement was reached between the federal government and an eastern syndicate for the construction of the railroad. Land surveys were begun.

1882 The York Farmer's Colonization Company was formed. Of the 106 colonization companies that applied for western lands, only 27 companies fulfilled their agreements. One of these was the York Farmers' Colonization Company. James Armstrong, J.J. Cooke and R. N. Taylor travelled from Ontario to Winnipeg by train, and then by wagon to an area situated about 10 miles south of present day Yorkton. After inspecting the area, they returned to Ontario adn applied for colonization of the lands.

May 11, 1882 The York Farmers' Colonization Company received approval to settle 6 Townships of land. They called this area York Colony. Four men were sent from Ontario to settle the land; namely, James Armstrong, J.J. Smith,, W.F. Smith, and Wm. McFarline. They were joined later that year by secen additional men. The summer was spent clearing the land and building shelters for winter.

1883 A Post Office was obtained for the colony. The stage brought the mail once each week from Whitewood which was the closest train station. The colony was forced to change its name because there was a York Colony in Ontario and this was causing problems with mail delivery. The name was changed to Yorkton.

1883 Joel Reaman opened the first general store and stopping house, the latter known as the Queen's Hotel. A.E. Boake opened a grocery, dry goods, and hardware store known as The Emporium. Boake was the only merchant to handle agriculture implements in the colony.
This year also saw the construction of a grist mill in the colony. Two other businesses completed the colony-The York Farmers' Colonization Company land office and a blacksmith shop owned by Alex Moynes.
The colony saw the influx of 160 settlers durign this year

1887 The York Farmers' Colonization Company disbanded this year once all the land owned by them had been settled. During the three preceding years farmers had been subjected to crop failures. This caused some question as to whether or not the colony would survive another year.

1888 The railroad was constructed as far as Saltcoats.

1890 The original site of the colony was abandoned and the settlement was relocated closer to the railroad which now passed several miles to the south. The train passed through once each week and brought much needed supples and additional settlers.

Part of the Colonization Company's agreement with the settlers included that once the settler had fulfulled his homestead duties he would recieve a lot in the town. When the relocation took place the lots between Gladstone and Wallace Avenues were set aside for this purpose.

The first business street in the new location was Front Street. The first business to open was J.J. Thornton's general store which was situated on the corner of Front and Market.Before long all of the lots were taken and Charles betts surveyed land to the North of Front Street. This created the street known as Broadway, Yorkton's modern-day main thoroughfare. Broadway's first business was Thomas Collacott's blacksmith shop.

1891 This year say the construction of the first school in the colony. It was built on Argyle Street and the first teacher was Miss Teeple. The first School Board Members were : Thomas Meredith, F. W. Bull, and W.P. Hopkins.

The Creamery was construction in this year also.

1893 The first Church in the community was built. It was a Methodist Church.

There was a great influx of settlers to the area during this year.

July 15 1894 Yorkton received the status of "Village". Community improvements were undertaken; namely, the digging of drainage ditches and gravelling of intersections.

1896 "The Enterprise" newspaper was opened by owner-publisher John Peaker. This was not the community's first newspaper-"The Messenger" opened in 1892 but folded that same year.

1897

1898 The Yorkton & District Board of Trade was Organized

1899 A number of settlers from Austria, Germany, Russia and the Ukraine arrived in the community and began to farm in the outlying districts.

1900 The Yorkton Volunteer Fire Brigade was formed.

1902 The Queen Victoria Cottage Hospital was opened. The Hospital had 18 beds with which to serve the community. The first nursing student graduated from the Hospital's School of Nursing in 1905.

World War I Mayor J.A. Patrick encouraged enlistment. The Royal Hotel, located on the corner of livingstone and Fourth Avenue was used as a Mess Hall for Yorkton recruits and the old town hall was used for a Bunk House. This latter facility housed 500 men and recruits were sent to Yorkton for training from as far away as Regina, Weyburn, Moosomin and Indian Head. Two squadrons were formed before the training depot was transferred to Regina.

1919 At the conclusion of the War a peach Arch was built on the corner of the Third Avenue and Broadway.

1920 This year saw the construction of three new schools; Burke, St. Joseph's and a Hebrew School.

1923 Yorkton was a growing and prosperous community.

1924 This year saw the opening of the Hudson Bay railroad. The community now had east-west and north-south railway traffic.

1928 The town's growth lead to Yorkton being named a "City." Up until this time the community had been prospering; bountiful.

1929 This year brought periods of very high temperatures and drought. In retrospect, it was an omen of things to come.

1925 These were the years of Prohibition. The Bronfman brothers owned a hotel in the community and with the coming of Prohibition they applied for, and received, a license to make spirits for medicinal purposes. They also opened a drug firm known as the Canada Pure Drug Company.

In 1927 the Bronfman warehouse and dealings were investigated. They had been accused of offering a bribe to the Customs & Excise Inspector and of running alcohol across the American border.

1927 This year say the opening of the CJGX radio station with a mandate to provide up to date livestock prices and grain market information to the farmers of eastern Saskatchewan and Western Manitoba.

October 1929 The New York Stock Exchangecrashed and saw the beginning of a ten year depression in both the USA and Canada. The effects in Saskatchewan were disastrous; wind storms, drought, and drifting top soil were coupled with no markets for the little grain that could be grown and harvested.

September 1939 Britian declared War on Germany. Canada was at war! As in the first war, yorkton was used as a training depot. Training was conducted at the fair grounds. This year also saw the construction of the Armoury.

August 1940 A Pilot Training Station was established on the farm of Mr. W. Gleason. The airstrip was completed in November of this year.

Augsut 1941 This year saw the grad of the first pilots in April. All the first trainees were Australians with the exception of one American. By the end of the War an estimated 2000 pilots had been trained at the Yorkton Station.

1945 Yorkton General Hospital opened its doors

Since the end of the Second World war our community has grown and prospered once again. The years have seen the construction of many new schools and churches; the opening of the Yorkton Union Hospital and the Yorkton Psychiatric Centre; and the addition of many new homes and housing developments.

To service the increase in our City's population, new businesses and industries have opened; shopping centres have been constructed; and motels/hotels have been erected.

The City's growth can also be seenin the recent construction of many recreational and cultural facilities, such as the Parkland Agriplex and the Godfrey Dean Cultural Centre.

All of these developments have added much to our fair city.



Information Provided By Yorkton Centennial Committee Booklet