Girvin is a former
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 ...
of 20 people 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 located midway between
Regina and
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 ...
on
Highway 11 between the towns of
Davidson
Davidson may refer to:
* Davidson (name)
* Clan Davidson, a Highland Scottish clan
* Davidson Media Group
* Davidson Seamount, undersea mountain southwest of Monterey, California, USA
* Tyler Davidson Fountain, monument in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
* ...
and
Craik. The village was formally dissolved in 2005; its remaining population is now counted as part of the rural municipality of
Arm River.
History
Prior to December 19, 2005, Girvin was unincorporated as 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 ...
, and was restructured as a
hamlet
''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...
under the jurisdiction of the
rural municipality
A rural municipality is a classification of municipality, a type of local government, found in several countries.
These include:
* Rural municipality (Canada), Rural municipalities in Canada, a Lists of municipalities in Canada, type of municipa ...
of Arm River on that date.
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 cultur ...
, Girvin had a population of 25 living in 11 of its 11 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 15. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.
History
The town’s name was in honour of John Alexander Girvin, a
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 ...
-based contractor who was responsible for the construction of countless railroad stations across the prairies. The
Qu’Appelle, Long Lake, and Saskatchewan Railroad and Steamboat Company railway passed through the area in the 1890s. Settlement of the area followed soon after, in about 1902 and consisted mostly of immigrants from Ontario. A school (which closed in 1970) and post office opened April 1, 1905 with a restaurant, veterinarian,
Massey-Harris dealership, lumber yard, butcher, hotel, bank, livery, blacksmith and a 3 story hotel following soon after. In 1907, the community had grown to such a size that it was incorporated as a village. Over the next few years, the town continued to grow and at its height, in 1915, the town boasted three grain elevators (the British America elevator, the Canadian Elevator Company elevator and the S.G. Detchon elevator.) The town also had hockey, football, curling and baseball teams. Girvin’s population peaked at 151 people in 1926 but slid to only 93 residents in 1941, only to rebound slightly in the 1950s with 140 people. This however, was only a short-term reprieve. Beginning in the 1960s, the population once again began to fall. By the 1980s the only business left in town was a gas station and garage. In 2004 the skating rink collapsed. Girvin lost its village status on December 19, 2005.
Today there are twenty residents with no businesses but the town is home to a large metal sculpture of a
bison
Bison are large bovines in the genus ''Bison'' (Greek: "wild ox" (bison)) within the tribe Bovini. Two extant and numerous extinct species are recognised.
Of the two surviving species, the American bison, ''B. bison'', found only in North Ame ...
and
Red River Cart
The Red River cart is a large two-wheeled cart made entirely of non-metallic materials. Often drawn by oxen, though also by horses or mules, these carts were used throughout most of the 19th century in the fur trade and in westward expansion in Ca ...
created by Don Wilkins.
Attractions
The Girvin Pump House, constructed in 1906, is situated on a 380-square metre piece of land near the railway tracks. It provided water for horses hauling grain into town and some townspeople also used its water for doing laundry. It is the only pump house in Saskatchewan and has been recognized as a
Municipal Heritage Property since 1994. Originally, it worked by the way of a gas pump that drew water to a tank at the top of the pump house. The tower portion of this building is a smaller version of the traditional railway water towers that were common across the prairies. The gas pump was subsequently replaced with an electric one. When the horses needed water, a rope was pulled, which released the water and filled a horse trough at the front of the building. Eventually, as cars and tractors replaced horses on the farm, the pump house fell out of use.
Gallery
File:Girvin Saskatchewan 2013.JPG, View down King Street
File:Girvin 5 (11759333646).jpg
File:Girvin 6 (11758984374).jpg
File:Girvin 1 (11758808703).jpg
File:Girvin 4 (11758577355).jpg
File:Girvin 2 (11759323226).jpg
File:Girvin 7 (11758587455).jpg
File:Girvin 3 (11758574635).jpg
File:Girvin12-Regina142.jpg, Sign for Girvin on Highway 11
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 ...
*
Hamlets of Saskatchewan
In most cases in Saskatchewan, a hamlet is an unincorporated community with at least five occupied dwellings situated on separate lots and at least 10 separate lots, the majority of which are an average size of less than one acre. Saskatchewan has ...
References
{{authority control
Arm River No. 252, Saskatchewan
Designated places in Saskatchewan
Former villages in Saskatchewan
Unincorporated communities in Saskatchewan
Populated places disestablished in 2005
Heritage sites in Saskatchewan