Estevan is the eighth-largest city in
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 ...
, Canada. It is approximately north of the
Canada–United States border
The border between Canada and the United States is the longest international border in the world. The terrestrial boundary (including boundaries in the Great Lakes, Atlantic, and Pacific coasts) is long. The land border has two sections: ...
. The
Souris River runs by the city. This city is surrounded by the
Rural Municipality of Estevan No. 5.
History
The first
settler
A settler is a person who has migrated to an area and established a permanent residence there, often to colonize the area.
A settler who migrates to an area previously uninhabited or sparsely inhabited may be described as a pioneer.
Settle ...
s in what was to become Estevan arrived in 1892, along with the expansion of the
Canadian Pacific Railway
The Canadian Pacific Railway (french: Chemin de fer Canadien Pacifique) , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canad ...
. It was incorporated as a village in 1899, and later became a town in 1906. On March 1, 1957, Estevan acquired the status of a city, which, in Saskatchewan terms, is any community of 5,000 or more.
The name origin is attributed to
George Stephen's registered
telegraphic address, ''Estevan''. George Stephen was the first President of the Canadian Pacific Railway from 1881 to 1888.
World War I military unit
On December 22, 1915, the
152nd (Weyburn-Estevan) Battalion, CEF
The 152nd Battalion, CEF, was a unit of the Canadian Expeditionary Force during the Great War. It was authorized on 22 December 1915, recruiting in Weyburn and Estevan, Saskatchewan, and embarked for Great Britain on 3 October 1916, where its perso ...
was authorised and recruited men from the area before departing to Great Britain on October 3, 1916.
1931 riot
Estevan was the site of the notorious
Estevan riot
The Estevan riot, also known as the Black Tuesday Riot, was a confrontation between the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and striking coal miners from nearby Bienfait, Saskatchewan which took place in Estevan, Saskatchewan on September 29, 1931. T ...
in 1931. Although most of the strikers were from nearby
Bienfait
Bienfait is a town in Saskatchewan on Highway 18 that is 14 km (9 miles) east of Estevan. It is 30 km northwest of the town of North Portal, which is next to the Canadian-American border and is also 10 km south of Estevan. It ...
, the strike is associated with Estevan because it was in this city the demonstrators were met by members of the
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; french: Gendarmerie royale du Canada; french: GRC, label=none), commonly known in English as the Mounties (and colloquially in French as ) is the federal and national police service of Canada. As poli ...
. After the subsequent riot, which lasted 45 minutes, three strikers lay dead. It was later proven the three miners had been killed by the RCMP. The miners had been organised by the
Workers' Unity League.
Demographics
In the
2021 Census of Population conducted by
Statistics Canada
Statistics Canada (StatCan; french: Statistique Canada), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and cultu ...
, Estevan had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.
Economy
![City pictures 018](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7f/City_pictures_018.jpg)
The major industries in Estevan are
coal mining
Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...
, power generation at nearby
Boundary Dam Power Station and
Shand Power Station,
oil and gas
A fossil fuel is a hydrocarbon-containing material formed naturally in the Earth's crust from the remains of dead plants and animals that is extracted and burned as a fuel. The main fossil fuels are coal, oil, and natural gas. Fossil fuels ...
, and agriculture.
Arts and culture
Museums and galleries
The city of Estevan has two museums, one of which is primarily a gallery.
The Estevan Art Gallery and Museum, formerly the Estevan National Exhibition Centre, was founded in 1978. The Estevan Art Gallery is a free public gallery that showcases contemporary art. The Gallery's permanent collection includes woodblock-print works by Andrew King. The Estevan Art Gallery and Museum, EAGM, also features the
North-West Mounted Police
The North-West Mounted Police (NWMP) was a Canadian para-military police force, established in 1873, to maintain order in the new Canadian North-West Territories (NWT) following the 1870 transfer of Rupert’s Land and North-Western Territo ...
Wood End Post Historical Site, NWMP Museum. This museum is in a house which is the oldest-known North-West Mounted Police Detachment Post in Saskatchewan and holds a collection related to the North-West Mounted Police and the 1874
March West
The March West was the initial journey of the North-West Mounted Police (NWMP) to the Canadian prairies, made between July 8 and October 9, 1874.
It was the result of the force being deployed to what is now southern Alberta in response to the C ...
from
Roche Percée
Roche Percée ( 2016 population: ) is a village in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan within the Rural Municipality of Coalfields No. 4 and Census Division No. 1. The village is situated near the Canada–United States border just off of ...
to Estevan.
The Souris Valley Museum, SVM, is a local and regional history museum focused on human development and daily life within south-east Saskatchewan. It was founded in 2001, primarily from the collection of Stan Durr. The museum provides an engaging depiction of the social and cultural influences and economic development of south-east Saskatchewan. The collection includes the Schneller Schoolhouse, a Threshing Cook Car, a Homesteader Shack, two of Estevan's original Firetrucks, and a Heritage Mining Display.
Arts council
The Estevan Arts Council, founded in 1967, is a non-profit organisation that offers art classes and workshops, adjudicates art shows, hosts concerts, and provides a youth art scholarships through the work of volunteers and community donations and grants.
Sports
![Inside Affinity Place](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/20/Inside_Affinity_Place.jpg)
Affinity Place is a 2,650 seat Multi-Purpose Entertainment and Sports Facility that was built to supplement the two other ageing ice surfaces in Estevan, the Civic Auditorium and Lignite Miners Centre. It opened on 15 April 2011. Affinity Place is home to the
Estevan Bruins
Estevan is the eighth-largest city in Saskatchewan, Canada. It is approximately north of the Canada–United States border. The Souris River runs by the city. This city is surrounded by the Rural Municipality of Estevan No. 5.
History
Th ...
, a junior
ice hockey
Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice ...
team playing in the
Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League
The Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League is a Junior 'A' ice hockey league operating in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan and one of nine member leagues of the Canadian Junior Hockey League.
Open to North American-born players 20 years o ...
(SJHL), and the
Midget AAA Estevan Bears. Affinity Place also has a
Racquetball court, swimming pool, and a
gym. Right next to Affinity Place is the Estevan Curling Club.
The nine-team Saskota Baseball League has two teams in Estevan, the Southeast Diamondbacks and the Estevan Tap House Wolves.
A former Estevan team, the Estevan Bears, played in the
Big 6 Hockey League
The Big 6 Hockey League is a senior men's ice hockey league in south-eastern Saskatchewan, Canada. There are currently nine teams in the league. The league began in 1959-1960 with four teams, the Bienfait Coalers, Frobisher Flyers, Glen Ewen ...
. They won the Lincoln Trophy three straight years from 1985 to 1987.
CJSL
CJSL is a Canadian radio station licensed to Estevan, Saskatchewan, and serves the southeastern portion of the province. CJSL broadcasts a country format as well as live sports.
The station is currently owned by Golden West Broadcasting, which ...
AM 1150 broadcasts many Big 6 hockey games.
Climate
Estevan has a
humid continental climate
A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freez ...
(
Köppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, nota ...
''
Dfb'') It falls into the
NRC Plant Hardiness Zone 4a.
Estevan's climate is characterized by cold, long, and dry winters with warm, short and, relatively humid summers. The mean temperature in January, the coldest month, is .
The precipitation in winter is chiefly snow, averaging .
The spring is a short transitional season, with a mean temperature of and of precipitation, with significant snowfall in April.
The summer is usually warm (the mean average high temperature is (average high in July, the warmest month, is and humid ( of total precipitation).
Autumn, as spring, is transitional, being warm in September and cooler in October and November. At this time of the year, the average temperature is and the total precipitation is .
Estevan is the sunniest city year-round in Canada, and it is also the city with the clearest skies year round in Canada.
The highest temperature ever recorded in Estevan was on 5 July 1936,
and 5 July 1937.
The coldest temperature ever recorded was on 11 January 1916,
and 16 February 1936.
Gallery
File:20161210 151014 v3.jpg, A downtown street in the winter
File:Water and ice (4956918050).jpg, Water tower and ice rink
File:Water and ice and rocks (4956918012).jpg, Water tower and curling rink
File:The law court in Estevan (4967281723).jpg, The law court
File:DP8 6384.jpg, Highway 47 going into Estevan
Local media
Newspapers
* ''The Estevan Mercury'', the newspaper in Estevan since 1903, provides weekly distribution to every household in the City free of charge. The newspaper also provides up-to-date news via online editorial copy and local videos. It also has as free TMC newspaper circulated throughout southeast Saskatchewan to over 9,000 homes; the ''Southeast Trader Express''.
* ''Pipeline News, Saskatchewan Petroleum Monthly'' newspaper is also based out of Estevan. Southeast Saskatchewan has a significant amount of oil production, and the Pipeline News' main office is situated locally to report on these matters.
* ''Estevan Lifestyles'' is a free circulation weekly publication that shares the stories of the people in the Estevan area and the southeast corner of Saskatchewan. The publication also publishes ''NewsBreak'', a daily coffee paper geared towards lighter reading.
Estevan Lifestyles
Sasklifestyles.com. Retrieved on 2015-12-13.
Radio
*CJSL
CJSL is a Canadian radio station licensed to Estevan, Saskatchewan, and serves the southeastern portion of the province. CJSL broadcasts a country format as well as live sports.
The station is currently owned by Golden West Broadcasting, which ...
AM 1150, CHSN-FM
CHSN-FM is a Canadian radio station broadcasting at 102.3 FM in Estevan, Saskatchewan. The station is currently owned & operated by Golden West Broadcasting and plays a hot adult contemporary format under the brand name ''Sun 102''.
History
G ...
102.3, and CKSE-FM
CKSE-FM (106.1 MHz, ''Rock 106'') is a mainstream rock formatted broadcast radio station licensed to Estevan, Saskatchewan, Canada, serving Estevan and Divide and Burke counties in North Dakota. CKSE is owned and operated by Golden West Broad ...
106.1 all broadcast from studios on 5th Street in Estevan.
*The news website DiscoverEstevan.com is also run by the radio station offering local news, weather, and sports. All are owned by Golden West Broadcasting
Golden West Broadcasting Ltd. is a Canadian radio and digital media company based in Altona, Manitoba. It is the largest independent radio broadcaster in Canada. The company primarily operates small-market radio stations and internet portals in ...
.
Notable residents
* Blair Atcheynum
Blair Michael Atcheynum (born April 20, 1969) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey right winger. Atcheynum from Sweetgrass First Nation is of Cree descent.
Playing career
Atcheynum was selected in the third round, 52nd overall, by the ...
, National Hockey League
The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey sports league, league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranke ...
(NHL) player
* Dave Batters
David Batters (July 12, 1969 – June 29, 2009) was a Canadian businessman and politician. Batters was a member of the Conservative Party of Canada in the House of Commons of Canada, representing the riding of Palliser from 2004 to 2008.
Early ...
, politician
* Dennis Cooley, poet
* Kimbi Daniels
Kimball J. Daniels (born January 19, 1973) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who played parts of two seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Philadelphia Flyers.
Playing career
Daniels's career started with the Sw ...
, hockey player
* Ana Egge, folk singer/songwriter
* Mina Forsyth, artist
* Eric Grimson
William Eric Leifur Grimson (born 1953) is a Canadian-born computer scientist and professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he served as Chancellor from 2011 to 2014. An expert in computer vision, he headed MIT's Department of ...
, computer scientist, educator
* Chris Henderson, musician
* Howard Hilstrom
Howard E. Hilstrom (born 18 March 1947) was a Canadian politician, rancher and police officer. Hilstrom served as a member of the House of Commons of Canada from 1997 to 2004. His career has included ranching and law enforcement.
He was elected ...
, politician
* Andrew David Irvine, playwright
* Tanner Jeannot
Tanner Jeannot (born May 29, 1997) is a Canadian professional ice hockey forward for the Tampa Bay Lightning of the National Hockey League (NHL). Jeannot is known as "The Oxbow Ox" in recognition of his physical play and his hometown of Oxbow, ...
, NHL player for Nashville Predators
The Nashville Predators (commonly referred to as the Preds) are a professional ice hockey team based in Nashville, Tennessee. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference, and ha ...
* Todd Kerns
Todd "Dammit" Kerns is a Canadian musician who has worked with several Canadian bands, most notably The Age of Electric. Kerns is currently the bass guitarist and back up vocalist for Slash in the band Slash featuring Myles Kennedy and The C ...
, musician
* Ross King, author
* Bill Knight, politician
* Ed Komarnicki
Edward "Ed" Komarnicki (born November 18, 1949) is a Canadian politician and lawyer.
Born in Cudworth, Saskatchewan, Komarnicki was elected into the House of Commons of Canada in the 2004 Canadian federal election as the Conservative Party of Ca ...
, politician
* Greg Lawrence
Greg Lawrence is a Canadian politician elected to represent the electoral district of Moose Jaw Wakamow in the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan
The Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan is the legislative chamber of the Saskatchewan Legisl ...
, politician
* Eli Mandel
Eli Mandel (December 3, 1922 – September 3, 1992) was a Canadian poet, editor of many Canadian anthologies, and literary academic.
Biography
Eli Mandel died in relative obscurity. A series of strokes had left him unable to write and, as a r ...
, poet
* Fred Mandel
Frederick Lawrence Mandel (born 1953) is a Canadian session musician, keyboard player and guitarist.
Career
Born in Estevan, Saskatchewan, Mandel became involved in music from an early age. He started playing the piano at four and picked up t ...
, session musician
* Punch McLean, hockey coach
* Gerald McLellan
Gerald Peter McLellan (1932-2009) was an Ombudsman in the Province of Saskatchewan,Speers Funeral ChapelMemorial Notice - Gerald Peter McLellan Retrieved 2016-10-20. notable during his tenure for his report on the collapse of the Donald Cormie, P ...
, Saskatchewan ombudsman
* Al Nicholson, hockey player
* Derrick Pouliot
Derrick Pouliot (born January 16, 1994) is a Canadians, Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman for the San Jose Barracuda in the American Hockey League (AHL) while under contract to the San Jose Sharks of the National Hockey League (NHL). H ...
, NHL player
* Arnold Richardson, curler
* Andy Shauf
Andy Shauf is a Canadian singer-songwriter from Regina, Saskatchewan. He plays several instruments, including clarinet.Carla Gillis"Andy Shauf moves to Toronto" ''Now'', 15 November 2016.
Early life
Shauf was born in Estevan, Saskatchewan, gr ...
, musician
* Kim Thorson
Kim Thorson (born March 2, 1932) is a lawyer and former political figure in Saskatchewan. He represented Souris-Estevan from 1956 to 1960 as a Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) member and from 1971 to 1975 as a New Democratic Party (NDP ...
, lawyer and politician
* Blaine Thurier
Blaine Thurier (born 1967) is a Canadian musician and film producer. He plays synthesizer with the Canadian indie pop supergroup The New Pornographers. His videos for The New Pornographers have been critically well received. Thurier has written ...
, musician and film producer
* Galen Wahlmeier, Canadian Football League
The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...
(CFL) player and mayor
See also
*List of communities in Saskatchewan
Communities in the Province of Saskatchewan, Canada include incorporated municipalities, unincorporated communities and First Nations communities.
Types of incorporated municipalities include urban municipalities, rural municipalities and nort ...
*List of cities in Saskatchewan
In the Canadian province of Saskatchewan, a city is a type of incorporated urban municipality that is created from a town by the minister of municipal affairs. The city form of governmental organization is created by a ministerial order via sectio ...
*Coal mining in Saskatchewan
Coal has been Coal mining, mined in Saskatchewan ever since the 1850s when it was used as a source of heat for the early Pioneers in the treeless Great Plains. Today, coal is still mined in Saskatchewan, but it is primarily used to Coal-fired powe ...
References
Notes
External links
*
*
{{Authority control
1892 establishments in Canada
Cities in Saskatchewan
Mining communities in Saskatchewan
Populated places established in 1892