Edenburg is an unincorporated community located 4 miles northwest of the town of

Aberdeen, Saskatchewan A community of 622 people, Aberdeen is located 18 minutes north-east of Saskatoon, just off Highway 41. History Aberdeen was first settled by immigrants of Russian, English, Scottish and Ukrainian descent in the 1890s to 1900s. In particular, ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. Edenburg has a population of 30, and is a mixed use residential/agricultural area.

History

Edenburg is a living example of the settlement preferences of the

Mennonite Mennonites are groups of Anabaptist Christian church communities of denominations. The name is derived from the founder of the movement, Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland. Through his writings about Reformed Christianity during the Radic ...

s, originally from northern Germany (

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...

) who emigrated to Canada via

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

. Although governmental policy of the day required the farmers to take up residence on their own

homestead Homestead may refer to: *Homestead (buildings), a farmhouse and its adjacent outbuildings; by extension, it can mean any small cluster of houses *Homestead (unit), a unit of measurement equal to 160 acres *Homestead principle, a legal concept th ...

quarter (a portion of land 1/2 mile square), the Mennonites preferred and sometimes were given governmental exemption to live in communities similar to those they had left in Europe. Thus, Edenburg and many other such communities sprang up with narrow frontages on the roadway, yet had their back boundaries set rather far from the edge of the road. The effect is similar to the river lots favoured in

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, and by the

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...

Métis people The Métis ( ; Canadian ) are Indigenous peoples who inhabit Canada's three Prairie Provinces, as well as parts of British Columbia, the Northwest Territories, and the Northern United States. They have a shared history and culture which derives ...

. In 1902, just as the

Canadian Northern Railways The Canadian Northern Railway (CNoR) was a historic Canadian transcontinental railway. At its 1923 merger into the Canadian National Railway , the CNoR owned a main line between Quebec City and Vancouver via Ottawa, Winnipeg, and Edmonton. Mani ...

was constructed past Aberdeen, Jacob Unrau and his family came from

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

. He homesteaded the north west quarter of section 14, township 39, range 3, west of the third meridian but bought 15-39-3-3 of what

had given the railways. He founded Edenburg on this section, giving each of his children, as they married, a strip of land and built a church and graveyard. In 1904, daughter Anna married Cornelius A. Ens and was given one such lot. Anna, who died in childbirth with her child Isaac in 1913, was an early entry into the graveyard. Ens established a store in 1918. Edenburg was situated on an east–west road, and gradually people settled across the road and completed the community. Until 1921 Edenburg had its own school taught in

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

, for its students and Mennonites in neighboring farms.

Social services

As of 2005, neither schooling nor business are carried on any more in Edenburg though some farm the surrounding land, with residents travelling to Aberdeen or to

Saskatoon Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Hig ...

for most commercial and educational matters or to commute to work. Unincorporated communities in Saskatchewan Aberdeen No. 373, Saskatchewan Division No. 15, Saskatchewan {{SKDivision15-geo-stub