Calder, Saskatchewan
Encyclopedia
Calder, is a village located in Calder Rural municipality No. 241
Calder No. 241, Saskatchewan
Calder No. 241 is a rural municipality in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan, located in the Census Division 9. The seat of the municipality is located in the Town of Wroxton.-Demographics:...
south-eastern Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....
, Canada. The population was 80 at the 2006 census. The village lies approximately 56 km east of Yorkton, Saskatchewan
Yorkton, Saskatchewan
Yorkton is a city located in southeastern Saskatchewan, Canada, near the Manitoba border. Founded and incorporated in 1882 by a group of settlers from Ontario, it has grown to 15,038 residents as of the 2006 census. The city is bordered by the Rural Municipality of Orkney No. 244 and the Rural...
and 35 km west of Roblin, Manitoba
Roblin, Manitoba
Roblin is a town in Manitoba, Canada. It is surrounded by the Rural Municipality of Shell River.Including the surrounding areas of Shell River, Hillsburg, Park North, Shellmouth, and Boulton, the population is 2,636...
approximately 5 km south of Highway 8
Saskatchewan Highway 8
Highway 8 is a highway in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It runs from North Dakota Highway 28 at the US border near Elmore until it transitions into Highway 982 just outside the Porcupine Provincial Forest...
Highway 10
Saskatchewan Highway 10
Highway 10 is a provincial paved undivided highway in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It runs from Highway 1 near Balgonie until it transitions into PTH 5 at the Manitoba border. Highway 10 is about 228 km long....
.
History
The history of Calder goes back to 1888, when a number of IcelandersIcelanders
Icelanders are a Scandinavian ethnic group and a nation, native to Iceland.On 17 June 1944, when an Icelandic republic was founded the Icelanders became independent from the Danish monarchy. The language spoken is Icelandic, a North Germanic language, and Lutheranism is the predominant religion...
and others settled just to the south of the present village, calling it the "Logberg" district or "Logberg of the Northwest Territories
Northwest Territories
The Northwest Territories is a federal territory of Canada.Located in northern Canada, the territory borders Canada's two other territories, Yukon to the west and Nunavut to the east, and three provinces: British Columbia to the southwest, and Alberta and Saskatchewan to the south...
". By the year 1897, the Icelanders and their other neighbors were quite comfortably settled when a group of Ruthenians
Ruthenians
The name Ruthenian |Rus']]) is a culturally loaded term and has different meanings according to the context in which it is used. Initially, it was the ethnonym used for the East Slavic peoples who lived in Rus'. Later it was used predominantly for Ukrainians...
from the Austrian
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...
province
Province
A province is a territorial unit, almost always an administrative division, within a country or state.-Etymology:The English word "province" is attested since about 1330 and derives from the 13th-century Old French "province," which itself comes from the Latin word "provincia," which referred to...
s of Bukovina
Bukovina
Bukovina is a historical region on the northern slopes of the northeastern Carpathian Mountains and the adjoining plains.-Name:The name Bukovina came into official use in 1775 with the region's annexation from the Principality of Moldavia to the possessions of the Habsburg Monarchy, which became...
and Galicia started arriving by rail between 1897–1898 at Saltcoats
Saltcoats, Saskatchewan
Saltcoats is a small town in East Central Saskatchewan near the Manitoba border in Canada. The town's population is around 500. The town was built in the late 19th century, and its economy was driven by the railway...
. Government agents escorted the new settlers to quarter section
Quarter section
A quarter section, often shortened to quarter, is an area of one-fourth of a square mile, or . It was a common size of a tract in homesteading in the United States and Canada.For details on its use, see*Dominion Land Survey in Canada...
s of land where they homesteaded within a five to ten mile radius of the present site of Calder. Additional Romanian
Romanians
The Romanians are an ethnic group native to Romania, who speak Romanian; they are the majority inhabitants of Romania....
immigrants from Bucovina continued to homestead remaining sections south of Calder between 1899–1905.
In the fall of 1910, the Canadian Northern Railway
Canadian Northern Railway
The Canadian Northern Railway is a historic Canadian transcontinental railway. At its demise in 1923, when it was merged into the Canadian National Railway , the CNoR owned a main line between Quebec City and Vancouver via Ottawa, Winnipeg, and Edmonton.-Manitoba beginnings:CNoR had its start in...
came through and called the site "Third Siding West of Shellmouth". The rail reached the homestead
Homestead (buildings)
A homestead is either a single building, or collection of buildings grouped together on a large agricultural holding, such as a ranch, station or a large agricultural operation of some other designation.-See also:* Farm house* Homestead Act...
of Mike Rohatensky before halting construction for the winter months. A railway loop was built in Calder where the train turned and journeyed back to Russell
Russell, Manitoba
Russell is a town of 1,428 located in southwestern Manitoba, Canada, in the Rural Municipality of Russell. The town of Russell is located along Highway 16 and Highway 83, and is at the western terminus of Highway 45. Russell is approximately 15 km from the Saskatchewan border and 340 km...
.
A petition dated October, 1910 for incorporating a village was signed by 13 local business leaders and by January 18, 1911 permission was granted for incorporating a village named after MLA
Member of the Legislative Assembly
A Member of the Legislative Assembly or a Member of the Legislature , is a representative elected by the voters of a constituency to the legislature or legislative assembly of a sub-national jurisdiction....
James Alexander Calder
James Alexander Calder
James Alexander Calder, was a Canadian politician.Born in Oxford County, Ontario, he received his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Manitoba in 1888. He was a teacher and principal, before being elected to the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan for the riding of South Regina in the...
. The first elections to form a town council
Town council
A town council is a democratically elected form of government for small municipalities or civil parishes. A council may serve as both the representative and executive branch....
were held on January 6, 1911.
In 1929, the Calder Electric Company brought electric power to the village and several street lamps were erected.
Education
Historical education:In 1891, Rothbury School was built followed by Minerva School in 1895. These schools to the south of the Icelandic settlement were too great a distance for the Ukrainians to attend. Thus, they applied for schools closer by. The first one to be built in the immediate five-mile radius was Chernawka School, erected in 1906, 1½ miles east of the village site. It was named after a village in Bucovina. Mostetz School was built in 1907, named after homesteader Henry Mostoway and Torsk School was erected about the same time.
It wasn't until after the railway came through and the village of Calder was incorporated in 1911, that Calder School District #515 was established. A lean-to was built onto a poolroom on Main Street and in this makeshift schoolroom was where first classes were held with Mess Fannie Brown as teacher. In 1912 a two-story school was erected. In 1914 the school was closed due to a small pox epidemic
Epidemic
In epidemiology, an epidemic , occurs when new cases of a certain disease, in a given human population, and during a given period, substantially exceed what is expected based on recent experience...
and in 1917 the school was closed for three months due to the influenza epidemic
Spanish flu
The 1918 flu pandemic was an influenza pandemic, and the first of the two pandemics involving H1N1 influenza virus . It was an unusually severe and deadly pandemic that spread across the world. Historical and epidemiological data are inadequate to identify the geographic origin...
. High school grades weren't offered until 1922. In 1929 a third room was added, which became the room for the high school grades.
By the year 1954, rural schools were facing closure and some of these students were then bussed into Calder. Thus, a new school was built in 1961 to accommodate the increasing attendance. Two of the buildings from the old school on Main Street were moved to the current Calder School premises to become classrooms. Also, at this time, Calder School became part of the Kamsack School Unit.
From 1961 to 1966, seven classrooms were in operation. In 1967, Grades 10, 11 and 12 transferred to the Yorkton Regional High School
Yorkton Regional High School
Yorkton Regional High School is located in Yorkton, Saskatchewan.The Regional opened its doors on November 10, 1967...
. It wasn't until the 1998 that the Grade 9 classes were transferred to school in Yorkton. Currently the school teaches grades K-6.
Current events
Calder celebrated the Province of Saskatchewan's CentennialJuly 30 – 31st, 2005 with over 600 current and previous residents in attendance.
Area statistics
- Lat (DMS) 51° 09' 30" N
- Long (DMS) - 101° 45' 00" W
- Time zone (CST) GMT - 6