Mortlach, Saskatchewan
Encyclopedia
Mortlach 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 Wheatlands Rural Municipality No. 163
Wheatlands No. 163, Saskatchewan
This article is about the rural municipality in Canada. For other places with the same name, see WheatlandWheatlands No. 163, Saskatchewan is a rural municipality of 164 rural residents in the southwestern part of Saskatchewan, Canada. The RM was incorporated December 13, 1909. Other localities...
, 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 population was 254 at the 2006 Census. The village is located on the Trans Canada Highway about 40 km west of the city of Moose Jaw
Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan
Moose Jaw is a city in south-central Saskatchewan, Canada on the Moose Jaw River. It is situated on the Trans-Canada Highway, west of Regina. Residents of Moose Jaw are known as Moose Javians. It is best known as a retirement and tourist city that serves as a hub to the hundreds of small towns...
. Thunder Creek (one of the rivers that flows into Moose Jaw) passes the town to the north where it is joined by Sandy Creek (Saskatchewan).
History
See SaskbizOrigin of name
While there are several theories about the origin of the name Mortlach such as: it was named after an English Village; it is a Gaelic translation of 'low hills'; and it may be a French term for 'dead lake' or Lac du Mort. The one that is generally accepted is that the Village was named by George StephenGeorge Stephen
George Stephen may refer to:* George A. Stephen, American inventor, entrepreneur, and the founder of Weber-Stephen Products Co.* George Stephen, 1st Baron Mount Stephen , Canadian banker and railway executive...
, the first President of the CPR, for his home Parish of Mortlach, Scotland. Other community names such as Parkbeg, Caron and Craigellachie, site if the 'Last Spike', also hail from his home parish. A church in Dufftown
Dufftown
Dufftown is a burgh in Banffshire, Scotland.The town was originally named Mortlach in the Middle Ages, until the 19th century when the Earl of Fife built the town as a housing for soldiers returning home from war...
in Banffshire
Banffshire
The County of Banff is a registration county for property, and Banffshire is a Lieutenancy area of Scotland.The County of Banff, also known as Banffshire, was a local government county of Scotland with its own county council between 1890 and 1975. The county town was Banff although the largest...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
with origins dating back to 525 AD, bears the Mortlach name.
Homesteading days
In 1904, the Canadian Pacific RailwayCanadian Pacific Railway
The Canadian Pacific Railway , formerly also known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a historic Canadian Class I railway founded in 1881 and now operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, which began operations as legal owner in a corporate restructuring in 2001...
's (CPR) new line became operational and the Village of Mortlach came to life on land originally homesteaded in 1902 by a Khamis Michael, a native of what is today Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
. By the spring of 1905, many people who had homesteaded the summer before along with new homesteaders began building. The first store, post office, and lumber and coal
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
supply would be owned by Mr. E.B. Tedford. Scribner and Wheeler built the first hotel in 1905 and the first school was built that fall.
One year later, in 1905, Mortlach already had a Board of Trade with a strong business district including two businesses, three general stores, lumber and coal suppliers, post office, livery, hotel, meat market, and an implement and harness dealer. In the fall of 1905 there was a section house but no station until 1906, built along with an elevator. The first Royal North West Mounted Police were stationed here in 1905 the same year that the Province of Saskatchewan was created. These were exciting times. The first weekly Mortlach newspaper was printed in Caron
Caron, Saskatchewan
Caron is a hamlet in Saskatchewan, Canada, located on the south side of the Trans-Canada Highway, 26 kilometres west of Moose Jaw. It has a population of 120.Location: 50.4592N -105.8692...
and the Methodist Church was also organized that year. The first doctor came to town that year and Mortlach fast became a popular place to stop and visit. 1907 saw many additional businesses grow, more hardware and implements, dry goods, general stores, harness shops, butchers, tinsmith, livery, real estate and insurance, and a hotel with a restaurant.
1907 was also the year of a Small Pox Epidemic
1837-38 smallpox epidemic
The smallpox epidemic that ravaged the people of the Great Plains in 1837 and 1838 was believed to have begun in spring of 1837 when a deckhand became ill aboard an American Fur Company steamboat, the S.S. St. Peter. The steamboat traveling up the Missouri River to Fort Union from St. Louis, docked...
so a new house that was being built became an isolation hospital. The Bank of Hamilton
Bank of Hamilton
The Bank of Hamilton was established in 1872 by local businessmen in the city of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada under the leadership of Donald McInnes, the bank's first President. Like the other Canadian chartered banks, it issued its own paper money. The bank issued notes 1872-1922...
opened a branch on Rose Street and Khamis Michael built a rink on Dean Street. The first exhibition
Art exhibition
Art exhibitions are traditionally the space in which art objects meet an audience. The exhibit is universally understood to be for some temporary period unless, as is rarely true, it is stated to be a "permanent exhibition". In American English, they may be called "exhibit", "exposition" or...
was held in that rink on August 4, 1908. Mortlach incorporated
Municipal corporation
A municipal corporation is the legal term for a local governing body, including cities, counties, towns, townships, charter townships, villages, and boroughs. Municipal incorporation occurs when such municipalities become self-governing entities under the laws of the state or province in which...
as a Village in 1909 with about 700 residents. The Star Theatre was built in 1910 by A.C. Baker. Soon there were many more businesses in this thriving community: a Red and White Store, two restaurants, blacksmith, grocery store, two cobblers, butcher, baker, undertaker, embalmer, flour miller, electric repair shop, Chinese laundry, veterinarian, Beaver Lumber, Imperial Lumber, Bank of Toronto
Bank of Toronto
The Bank of Toronto was a Canadian bank, founded on July 8, 1857 by George Gooderham, that merged with The Dominion Bank on February 1, 1955 to form the Toronto-Dominion Bank...
, photo studio, newspaper publisher, livery stable and auto garage, and another implement
Implement
Implement may refer to:* Implementation — the process for putting a design, plan or policy into effect.* A class of tools — such as farm implements or writing implements....
shop.
Government
The village is governed by a village council composed of a mayorMayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
, four councillors and a village Administrator. Municipal elections are held every three years.
Demographics
In 2006 Mortlach had a population of 254 living in 117 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 5.4% increase from 2001. The village has a land area of 2.76 km² (1.1 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 92 /km2.
Notable natives
- Jack PooleJack PooleJohn W. "Jack" Poole, OC, OBC was a Canadian businessman who, as the head of the VANOC bid committee, was responsible for bringing the 2010 Winter Olympics to Canada....
, VancouverVancouverVancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
-based businessman (April 14, 1933 - October 23, 2009)
Attractions
Mortlach has a large variety of attractions, including a community orchardOrchard
An orchard is an intentional planting of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production. Orchards comprise fruit or nut-producing trees which are grown for commercial production. Orchards are also sometimes a feature of large gardens, where they serve an aesthetic as well as a productive...
, churches, parks and restaurants, a library, museum and beautiful scenery.
Music plays a big part in Mortlach's culture - from the Mortlach Old Time Fiddlers to the community choir. A new group, "We Could Be Cousins", had its debut in Mortlach on 4 July 2009. Also in July 2009, Mortlach was awarded an Artist In Residence for a year.
Education
Mortlach has one school that covers KindergartenKindergarten
A kindergarten is a preschool educational institution for children. The term was created by Friedrich Fröbel for the play and activity institute that he created in 1837 in Bad Blankenburg as a social experience for children for their transition from home to school...
through grade 12, that boasts a strong academic record with a mix of sports, cultural, and social aspects.
See also
- Scottish place names in CanadaScottish place names in CanadaThis is a list of placenames in Scotland which have subsequently been applied to parts of Canada by Scottish emigrants or explorers.For Nova Scotian names in Scottish Gaelic see Canadian communities with Scottish Gaelic speakers and Scottish Gaelic placenames in CanadaNote that, unless otherwise...
- List of communities in Saskatchewan
- Villages of SaskatchewanVillages of SaskatchewanVillages are incorporated under the provisions of the Municipal Government Act, if requested by more than 30% of the electors of a community with more than 300 people. In Saskatchewan, towns are formed from villages or resort villages with a population of at least 500 people, but the change in...