Eatonia is a small

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

in the

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 ou ...

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a province in 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 the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dak ...

, Canada with a population of 449 people (according to the Canada 2006 Census).Statistics Canada, 2006 Census
/ref> The town's

economy An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with the ...

is based almost exclusively on

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people t ...

. Eatonia is in southwest Saskatchewan at the crossroads of Highways 21 and 44, approximately 44 kilometers southwest of

Kindersley Kindersley is a town surrounded by the Rural Municipality of Kindersley No. 290 in west-central Saskatchewan, Canada. It is located along Highway 7, a primary highway linking Calgary, Alberta and Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. At a population of 4,59 ...

and 72 kilometres from the provincial boundary with

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

. The town is served by Eatonia (Elvie Smith) Municipal Airport.

History

Eatonia was founded in 1919 as a station on the Canadian National Railway and was named after

Timothy Eaton Timothy Eaton (March 1834 – 31 January 1907) was an Irish businessman who founded the Eaton's department store, one of the most important retail businesses in Canada's history. Early life and family He was born in Ballymena, County Antrim, ...

, founder of the Eaton's department store chain and catalogue, and to honour his son and heir,

John Craig Eaton Sir John Craig Eaton (April 28, 1876 – March 30, 1922) was a Canadian businessman and a member of the prominent Eaton family. Life and career He was born in Toronto, Ontario, the youngest son of department store magnate Timothy Eaton and h ...

. The station was originally simply called "Eaton", but there was confusion with nearby Eston, so the name was changed to Eatonia in 1921 ("Eatonia" was the name of an Eaton's brand for clothing and other goods, and "Eatonian" was the name given to long-serving Eaton's employees). Eatonia was incorporated as a town in 1954. In 1955, the year of Saskatchewan's Golden Jubilee, Eatonia's train station was featured on the cover of the Eaton's catalogue, thus resulting in a classic local image finding its way into homes across the country. The former CN train station is now home to the Wheatland Regional Library (Eatonia Branch). The former station, along with a train caboose and a wood-frame house ordered from the Eaton's catalogue in 1917, comprise the Eatonia Heritage Park, a Municipal Heritage Property located at the south end of Main Street.

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, Eatonia 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.

Education

Eatonia is home to a kindergarten to Grade 12 public school, Eaton School, which has been home to many successful volleyball, basketball, and football teams throughout its history. It is located within the Sun West School Division.

References

External links

* {{SKDivision8 Towns in Saskatchewan Eaton's