Arcola is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

in south-east

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...

, Canada, approximately north and east of

Estevan Estevan is the eleventh-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 ...

Highway 13 The following roads may be referred to as Route 13 or Highway 13. For a list of roads named A13, see List of A13 roads. International * AH13, Asian Highway 13 * European route E13 * European route E013 Afghanistan *The Kabul–Behsud Highwa ...

, Highway 604, and

Arcola Airport Arcola Airport is located adjacent to Arcola, Saskatchewan, Canada. Burton Ag Air Ltd. operates a fixed base at the airport. See also *List of airports in Saskatchewan This is a list of airports in Saskatchewan. It includes all Nav Canad ...

provide access to the community. Arcola served as the location for the

Allan King Allan Winton King, (February 6, 1930 – June 15, 2009), was a Canadian film director. Life Born in Vancouver, British Columbia, during the Great Depression, King attended Henry Hudson Elementary School, in Kitsilano.W.O. Mitchell's ''Who Has Seen the Wind''.

History

From 1757 to the 1850s the

Fort Ellice Fort Ellice was a Hudson's Bay Company trading post that operated from 1794 to 1892. It was first established in February 1794 by John Sutherland on the Qu'Appelle River about upstream from its mouth at the Assiniboine River, and known as the Qu ...

- Wood Mountain Trail was used by early fur traders, Metis, and First Nations as a supply route from the

buffalo Buffalo most commonly refers to: * True buffalo or Bubalina, a subtribe of wild cattle, including most "Old World" buffalo, such as water buffalo * Bison, a genus of wild cattle, including the American buffalo * Buffalo, New York, a city in the n ...

hunting grounds near Wood Mountain to Fort Ellice.

Pemmican Pemmican () (also pemican in older sources) is a mixture of tallow, dried meat, and sometimes dried berries. A calorie-rich food, it can be used as a key component in prepared meals or eaten raw. Historically, it was an important part of indigeno ...

was one of the main goods brought back to Fort Ellice. The trail ran along the south side of

Moose Mountain Upland Moose Mountain Upland, Moose Mountain Uplands, or commonly Moose Mountain, is a hilly plateau located in the south-east corner of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan, that covers an area of about . The u ...

, through what is today Arcola. The Palliser expedition in 1857 and the

North-West Mounted Police The North-West Mounted Police (NWMP) was a Canadian paramilitary 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 Territory to ...

(NWMP), as part of the

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 ...

to deal with the

Cypress Hills Massacre The Cypress Hills MassacreThe Cypress Hills Massacre
at

Red Coat Trail The Red Coat Trail is a route that approximates the path taken in 1874 by the North-West Mounted Police in their March West from Fort Dufferin to Fort Whoop-Up. Route description A number of highways in southern Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and A ...

. In 2003, Arcola celebrated its 100th anniversary, marking the fact that it predates the province by two years. Arcola is known as Saskatchewan's "Heritage Town" due to its many historical brick and wood-frame structures. Settlers in the area originally built a community known as Clare, located two miles north-east of where Arcola exists today, but almost all the buildings of Clare were moved when the CPR announced in the early part of 1900 that the railroad would run south of town. Arcola was the "end point" of the southern branch line running west from

Souris, Manitoba Souris (2021 population: 1,970) is an unincorporated urban community in the Municipality of Souris-Glenwood within the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba that held town status prior to the 2015 Manitoba municipal ...

for four years, during which time it became an important hub for westward migration. At one point it was the 11th largest town in what is now the province of Saskatchewan, but was then known as Assiniboia. With flourishing settlement and economic growth, many thought Arcola would achieve

city status City status is a symbolic and legal designation given by a monarch, national or subnational government. A municipality may receive city status because it already has the qualities of a city, or because it has some special purpose. Historically, ci ...

. It was during this heyday, and using bricks made in the town's own brick plant, that many of today's heritage homes and buildings were erected.

Heritage buildings

Arcola has several heritage properties registered on the

Canadian Register of historic places The Canadian Register of Historic Places (CRHP; , ), also known as Canada's Historic Places, is an online directory of historic places in Canada which have been formally recognized for their heritage value by a federal, provincial, territorial ...

. *Arcola Town Hall (Arcola Opera House) (1905) at 21 Main Street *Arcola Court House (1908 to 1909) at 619 Souris Avenue *Law Office Building (1916) at 114 Main Street * Arcola Land Titles Building (1911 to 1912) at 301 Main Street *Pharmacy Building (1903) at 107 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 Statistics Canada (StatCan; ), 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 culture. It is headquartered in ...

, Arcola 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

Arcola School offers

Pre-Kindergarten Pre-kindergarten (also called pre-K or PK) is a voluntary classroom-based preschool program for children below the age of five in the United States, Canada, Turkey and Greece (when kindergarten starts). It may be delivered through a preschool ...

through grade 12 and is part of South East Cornerstone Public School Division #209. This public school has an enrollment of 215 pupils. The Panthers are the school team.

Parks and recreation

A fair and

rodeo Rodeo () is a competitive equestrian sport that arose out of the working practices of cattle herding in Spain and Mexico, expanding throughout the Americas and to other nations. It was originally based on the skills required of the working vaqu ...

, town wide garage sale day, Robbie Burns' Night, Co-Op Equity Days, a snowmobile rally, fall supper, and

Canada Day Canada Day, formerly known as Dominion Day, is the national day of Canada. A Public holidays in Canada, federal statutory holiday, it celebrates the anniversary of Canadian Confederation which occurred on July 1, 1867, with the passing of the B ...

Celebrations are among the town's annual events. The town is home to an art gallery and the Southeast Saskatchewan Photo Museum. A full range of stores and services are available including three antique shops, a hospital and medical clinic, a K-12 school and pottery studio, as well as full-service restaurants, a laundromat, and a motel. The

skating Skating involves any sports or recreational activity which consists of traveling on surfaces or on ice using skates, and may refer to: Ice skating *Ice skating, moving on ice by using ice skates **Figure skating, a sport in which individuals, ...

and

curling Curling is a sport in which players slide #Curling stone, stones on a sheet of ice toward a target area that is segmented into four concentric circles. It is related to bowls, boules, and shuffleboard. Two teams, each with four players, take t ...

rinks were destroyed by fire in 2001. Following this, community fundraising and government grants were used to construct a new rink adjoining the Prairie Place Hall, creating a multi-use community facility called Prairie Place Complex. Prairie Place Complex features, an ice rink, three sheet curling, a

hall In architecture, a hall is a relatively large space enclosed by a roof and walls. In the Iron Age and the Early Middle Ages in northern Europe, a mead hall was where a lord and his retainers ate and also slept. Later in the Middle Ages, the gre ...

that seats 450 people, and ball diamonds. The Arcola/

Kisbey Kisbey ( 2016 population: ) is a village in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan within the Rural Municipality of Brock No. 64 and Census Division No. 1. The village took its name from Richard Claude Kisbey (d. 1941), an Irish immigrant who ...

Combines of the senior men's

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, Saskatchewan, Frob ...

and the Arcola Threshers of the Saskota Baseball league play at the Prairie Place Complex.

Notable people

* Gerald McLellan (1932-2009), lawyer and

Ombudsman An ombudsman ( , also ) is a government employee who investigates and tries to resolve complaints, usually through recommendations (binding or not) or mediation. They are usually appointed by the government or by parliament (often with a sign ...

for Saskatchewan, 1987–1993; also a

bencher A bencher or Master of the Bench is a senior member of an Inn of Court in England and Wales or the Inns of Court in Northern Ireland, or the Honorable Society of King's Inns in Ireland. Benchers hold office for life once elected. A bencher c ...

of the

Law Society of Saskatchewan Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

, 1976–1982. Born and educated in Arcola. *Canadian author James Sinclair Ross wrote his seminal 1941 novel '' As for Me and My House'' in Arcola. *Arcola is the hometown of former

Vancouver Canucks The Vancouver Canucks are a professional ice hockey team based in Vancouver. The Canucks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conferenc ...

, and NCAA All American ice hockey defenceman, Prestin Ryan.

References

{{Coord, 49.637, N, 102.490, W, display=title, type:city_region:CA_source:GNS-enwiki Rural Municipality of Brock No. 64 Towns in Saskatchewan Division No. 1, Saskatchewan