Calder ( 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 ...

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 Nor ...

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 Calder No. 241 and Census Division No. 9. The village lies approximately 56 km east of the City of

Yorkton Yorkton is a city located in south-eastern Saskatchewan, Canada. It is about 450 kilometres north-west of Winnipeg and 300 kilometres south-east of Saskatoon and is the sixth largest city in the province. As of 2017 the census population of th ...

and 35 km west of

Roblin, Manitoba Roblin is an unincorporated urban community in the Municipality of Roblin, Manitoba, Canada. It is located approximately northwest of Winnipeg. Prior to 1 January 2015, Roblin was designated as a town. In 2010, the Town of Roblin and the former ...

, approximately 5 km south of Highway 8 and Highway 10.

History

The history of Calder goes back to 1888, when a number of

Icelanders Icelanders ( is, Íslendingar) are a North Germanic ethnic group and nation who are native to the island country of Iceland and speak Icelandic. Icelanders established the country of Iceland in mid 930 AD when the Althing (Parliament) met f ...

and others settled just to the south of the present village, calling it the "Logberg" district or "Logberg of the

Northwest Territories The Northwest Territories (abbreviated ''NT'' or ''NWT''; french: Territoires du Nord-Ouest, formerly ''North-Western Territory'' and ''North-West Territories'' and namely shortened as ''Northwest Territory'') is a federal territory of Canada. ...

". By the year 1897, the Icelanders and their other neighbors were quite comfortably settled when a group of

Ruthenians Ruthenian and Ruthene are exonyms of Latin origin, formerly used in Eastern and Central Europe as common ethnonyms for East Slavs, particularly during the late medieval and early modern periods. The Latin term Rutheni was used in medieval sou ...

from the

Austrian Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions out ...

s of

Bukovina Bukovinagerman: Bukowina or ; hu, Bukovina; pl, Bukowina; ro, Bucovina; uk, Буковина, ; see also other languages. is a historical region, variously described as part of either Central or Eastern Europe (or both).Klaus Peter Berge ...

and

Galicia Galicia may refer to: Geographic regions * Galicia (Spain), a region and autonomous community of northwestern Spain ** Gallaecia, a Roman province ** The post-Roman Kingdom of the Suebi, also called the Kingdom of Gallaecia ** The medieval King ...

arrived by rail between 1897–1898 at

Saltcoats Saltcoats ( gd, Baile an t-Salainn) is a town on the west coast of North Ayrshire, Scotland. The name is derived from the town's earliest industry when salt was harvested from the sea water of the Firth of Clyde, carried out in small cottages al ...

. Government agents escorted the new settlers to

quarter section In U.S. land surveying under the Public Land Survey System (PLSS), a section is an area nominally , containing , with 36 sections making up one survey township on a rectangular grid. The legal description of a tract of land under the PLSS in ...

s of land where they homesteaded within a five to 10 mile radius of the present site of Calder. Additional

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania ** Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditiona ...

immigrants from Bucovina continued to homestead remaining sections south of Calder between 1899–1905. In the fall of 1910, the

Canadian Northern Railway 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. Man ...

came through and called the site "Third Siding West of Shellmouth". The rail reached the homestead of Mike Rohatensky before halting construction for the winter months. A railway loop was built in Calder where the train turned and journeyed back to Russell. A petition to incorporate as a village was signed by 13 local business leaders in October 1910. Calder incorporated as a village on January 18, 1911. It was named after MLA

James Alexander Calder James Alexander Calder (September 17, 1868 – July 20, 1956) was a Canadian politician. Biography Born in Oxford County, Ontario, he received his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Manitoba in 1888. He was a teacher and prin ...

. The first

elections An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...

to form a

village council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural council ...

were held on January 6, 1911. In 1929, the Calder Electric Company brought electric power to the village and several street lamps were erected.

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 cultu ...

, Calder 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 Calder 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.

Education

In 1891, Rothbury School was built followed by Minerva School in 1895. These schools to the south of the Icelandic settlement were too great a distance for the Ukrainians to attend. Thus, they applied for schools closer by. The first one to be built in the immediate five-mile radius was Chernawka School, erected in 1906, 1½ miles east of the village site. It was named after a village in Bucovina. Mostetz School was built in 1907, named after homesteader Henry Mostoway and Torsk School was erected about the same time. It wasn't until after the railway came through and the village of Calder was incorporated in 1911, that Calder School District #515 was established. A lean-to was built onto a poolroom on Main Street and in this makeshift schoolroom was where first classes were held with Miss Fannie Brown as teacher. In 1912 a two-story school was erected. In 1914 the school was closed due to a

small pox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) ce ...

epidemic An epidemic (from Greek ἐπί ''epi'' "upon or above" and δῆμος ''demos'' "people") is the rapid spread of disease to a large number of patients among a given population within an area in a short period of time. Epidemics of infectious ...

and in 1917 the school was closed for three months due to the

influenza epidemic Flu season is an annually recurring time period characterized by the prevalence of an outbreak of influenza (flu). The season occurs during the cold half of the year in each hemisphere. It takes approximately two days to show symptoms. Influe ...

. High school grades weren't offered until 1922. In 1929 a third room was added, which became the room for the high school grades. By the year 1954, rural schools were facing closure and some of these students were then bussed into Calder. Thus, a new school was built in 1961 to accommodate the increasing attendance. Two of the buildings from the old school on Main Street were moved to the current Calder School premises to become classrooms. Also, at this time, Calder School became part of the Kamsack School Unit. From 1961 to 1966, seven classrooms were in operation. In 1967, Grades 10, 11 and 12 transferred to the Yorkton Regional High School. It wasn't until the 1998 that the Grade 9 classes were transferred to school in Yorkton. Currently the school teaches grades K-8. Calder celebrated the Province of Saskatchewan's Centennial July 30 – 31st,2005 were the village introduced the official flag, which the design had been part of the Calder School's students as a competition. Over 600 current and previous residents in attendance. In July 2011 the village held its 100th anniversary.

References

Villages in Saskatchewan Calder No. 241, Saskatchewan Division No. 9, Saskatchewan {{coord, 51, 09, N, 101, 45, W, display=title, region:CA_type:city_source:GNS-enwiki

History

Demographics

Education

See also

References