Gainsborough ( 2016 population: ) is a

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...

in the

Canadian province Within the geographical areas of Canada, the ten provinces and three territories are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British North ...

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 ...

within the

Rural Municipality of Argyle No. 1 The Rural Municipality of Argyle No. 1 (Canada 2016 Census, 2016 population: ) is a List of rural municipalities in Saskatchewan, rural municipality (RM) in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan within Divisi ...

and Census Division No. 1. A farming community, the village is located on Highway 18 in the southeastern corner of Saskatchewan. Gainsborough is approximately from the

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 ...

border, and from the

North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the Native Americans in the United States, indigenous Dakota people, Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north a ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

border. The first post office was established on April 1, 1884 as the community of ''Antler''. On September 1, 1885 the name of the community changed to Gainsborough, after

Gainsborough, Lincolnshire Gainsborough is a market town, inland port and civil parish in the West Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. The town population was 20,842 at the 2011 census, and estimated at 23,243 in 2019. It lies on the east bank of the River Trent ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, which was the former home of J. J. Sadler, an early settler.

Location

8 miles east is the community of

Pierson, Manitoba Pierson is an unincorporated community recognized as a local urban district located in the Municipality of Two Borders in southwestern Manitoba, Canada. The Antler–Lyleton Border Crossing is located south of Pierson. Pierson is home to the Ca ...

. To the west 8 miles is the village of

Carievale Carievale (2021 population: ) is a village in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan within the Rural Municipality of Argyle No. 1 and Census Division No. 1. The village lies at the intersection of Highway 8 and Highway 18. History The comm ...

. 16 miles straight north of Gainsborough is the hamlet of

Fertile Fertility is the capability to produce offspring through reproduction following the onset of sexual maturity. The fertility rate is the average number of children born by a female during her lifetime and is quantified demographically. Fertilit ...

. The closest communities to the south are

Antler Antlers are extensions of an animal's skull found in members of the Cervidae (deer) family. Antlers are a single structure composed of bone, cartilage, fibrous tissue, skin, nerves, and blood vessels. They are generally found only on male ...

and Sherwood, North Dakota. Nearby towns to the north and west are Storthoaks,

Carnduff Carnduff is a small agricultural town in southeast Saskatchewan, Canada. History Carnduff is named after its first postmaster, John Carnduff. It was marked on early CPR maps, though that location did not exactly correspond to the present town ...

, Glen Ewen, Oxbow, and Bellegarde, while to the east are Lyleton,

Tilston Tilston is a village and a civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. At the 2001 Census, the population was recorded as 627, reducing to 603 at the 2011 census. St Ma ...

and

Melita, Manitoba Melita () is a town located in the south-western corner of the Canadian province of Manitoba. It is surrounded by the Municipality of Two Borders and occupies a bend of the Souris River. Graham Creek runs along the west side of town and into ...

. The nearest population centres with more than 10,000 people are approximately an hour's drive away:

Estevan 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 The ...

, which is westward on Highway 18, and Minot, North Dakota is a 75-minute drive almost directly south.

Brandon Brandon may refer to: Names and people *Brandon (given name), a male given name * Brandon (surname), a surname with several different origins Places Australia *Brandon, a farm and 19th century homestead in Seaham, New South Wales *Brandon, Q ...

is a 2-hour drive away, while

Regina, Saskatchewan Regina () is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The city is the second-largest in the province, after Saskatoon, and is a commercial centre for southern Saskatchewan. As of the 2021 C ...

and

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

are each approximately 3.0-3.5 hours away by car.

is the closest border crossing station between Canada and the US, and like most small posts on the frontier it is closed overnight. Gainsborough is approximately equidistant to two 24-hour border crossings:

North Portal, Saskatchewan North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north'' is ...

90 km to the west, and

Boissevain, Manitoba Boissevain () is an unincorporated urban community in Manitoba near the North Dakota border that held town status prior to 2015. It is located within the Municipality of Boissevain – Morton. Boissevain is a community of just over 1,500 people an ...

120 km to the east.

History

Gainsborough incorporated as a village on May 25, 1894. The Gainsborough Creek forms most of the southern boundary of the town, while the rest of the community is bordered by open fields and pasture. A tributary of the Souris River, the creek is prone to flooding during the spring thaw. Though several nearby communities made national headlines as disaster areas during severe flooding in 2011, most buildings in Gainsborough did not require unusual extraordinary protection measures or sandbagging. In 2014, extended heavy rainfall in the region resulted in severe flash flooding that forced the complete evacuation of residents to neighbouring communities and made national headlines. Provincial premier Brad Wall did an aerial survey of the flood area that allowed images and video of the flooded village to be recorded near the maximum height of the waters.

Demographics

In the

2021 Census of Population The 2021 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population with a reference date of May 11, 2021. It follows the 2016 Canadian census, which recorded a population of 35,151,728. The overall response rate was 98%, which is sli ...

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 cultur ...

, Gainsborough 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. In the 2016 Census of Population, the Village of Gainsborough recorded a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change from its 2011 population of . With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2016.

Economy

Saskatchewan is in the CST Zone, and since 1967 it has not observed

daylight saving time Daylight saving time (DST), also referred to as daylight savings time or simply daylight time (United States, Canada, and Australia), and summer time (United Kingdom, European Union, and others), is the practice of advancing clocks (typicall ...

meaning that local clocks do not get changed in summer. A practical effect on border towns like Gainsborough is that they only align with neighbouring communities in

and

for half the year, which may lead to misunderstandings regarding the timing of scheduled inter-community events. Primary income of community members is derived from agricultural businesses (farming, ranching) and petroleum drilling services.

Places of interest

*Bennet Park - located on Railway Avenue (main street), formerly the location of a pool hall, hardware store, and mechanic *Bowens Park - central to the southern half of the town along Antler Avenue *Memorial Cenotaph - located adjacent to the theatre on Bruce Street *Churches - two (Knox United, Anglican). The Anglican Christ Church is registered on the

List of historic places in Saskatchewan This article is a list of historic places in the province of Saskatchewan entered on the Canadian Register of Historic Places, whether they are federal, provincial, or municipal. List of historic places ...

*Community hall - basement with kitchen, main hall has a stage and upper meeting room *Gainsborough Agricultural Grounds - kitchen facilities, three baseball diamonds, racetrack located north of the curling rink. *Campground facilities are located north of the Health Centre adjacent to the sports fields. *There is a privately owned museum with articles from the town's history that is opened by request.

Amenities, associations, and clubs

* Lions Clubs International * Gainsborough Library * Gainsborough Curling Club * There is a small grass airstrip located in the north end of the town listed as the

Gainsborough Airport Gainsborough Airport was located adjacent to Gainsborough, Saskatchewan, Canada. See also * List of airports in Saskatchewan * List of defunct airports in Canada This is an alphabetical list of abandoned airports in Canada that were at on ...

Notable people

* Dr William G. Hobbs, a former physician in the Gainsborough Union Hospital (closed c. 1987), did a painting of the main street of the town entitled "40 Below Zero" that won a national contest in 1978. The buildings pictured in it are no longer standing and the location on Railway Avenue is now known as Bennett Park. *

Lew Morrison Henry Lewis Morrison (born February 11, 1948) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who played 564 National Hockey League (NHL) games for the Philadelphia Flyers, Atlanta Flames, Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins between 1 ...

, former

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

er * Richard Widdifield, Canadian Artist, Born in Gainsborough in 1961 * Dick Southam, former Progressive Conservative

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

Gallery

File:Bennett Park, Gainsborough.jpg, Bennett Park File:Welcome Sign, Gainsborough.jpg, Gainsborough Welcome Sign File:Gainsborough SWP Elevator 2011.jpg, As of 2012, the former Saskatchewan Wheat Pool building is the last standing grain elevator in the village.

References

External links

* * Villages in Saskatchewan Argyle No. 1, Saskatchewan Division No. 1, Saskatchewan {{Coord, 49, 10, N, 101, 27, W, region:CA_type:city_source:GNS-enwiki, display=title