Meota, Saskatchewan
Encyclopedia
Meota is a village
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...
in Meota Rural Municipality No. 468
Meota No. 468, Saskatchewan
Meota No. 468 is a rural municipality in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The municipality is located in the Census Division 17 which is a part of SARM Division 6. The seat of the municipality is located in the Village of Meota.-Demographics:...
, 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
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. The village's population was 297 at the 2006 Canadian Census. The village name is derived from the Cree
Cree
The Cree are one of the largest groups of First Nations / Native Americans in North America, with 200,000 members living in Canada. In Canada, the major proportion of Cree live north and west of Lake Superior, in Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and the Northwest Territories, although...
phrase Meotate or Mo-Was-In-Ota, meaning "good place to camp" or "it is good here."
Demographics
In 2006, Meota had a population of 297 living in 197 dwellingsHouse
A house is a building or structure that has the ability to be occupied for dwelling by human beings or other creatures. The term house includes many kinds of different dwellings ranging from rudimentary huts of nomadic tribes to free standing individual structures...
, a 1.4% increase from 2001. The village has a land area of 1.55 km² (0.598458345818429 sq mi) and a population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
of 191.9 /km2.
History
A post office named Meota was established in 1894, but it was located where the present-day community of MetinotaMetinota, Saskatchewan
Metinota is a community in Saskatchewan....
is, leading to some confusion over the origins of the current village of Meota. The first post office in present-day Meota was established in 1910, although it was initially called Beachview.
Joseph A. Dart, an early merchant, had established a store in a tent near current-day Meota, and in 1910, he moved to the Meota townsite where his store operated in a building on Main Street. 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...
opened its line through Meota in 1910-1911. Soon after the arrival of the railway, Meota was incorporated as a village on February 1, 1911. In 1912 the first grain elevator
Grain elevator
A grain elevator is a tower containing a bucket elevator, which scoops up, elevates, and then uses gravity to deposit grain in a silo or other storage facility...
was constructed, and than a dance pavilion opened in 1921. Other industries included brick manufacturing, a flour mill, and commercial fishing ("Meota Whites"). Unfortunately a series of fires have decimated the village's business district, and the advent of the automobile caused many local residents to drive to North Battleford for shopping.
Meota has enjoyed a measure of prosperity due to summer vacationers at Jackfish Lake.