Binscarth is an unincorporated urban community in the

Municipality of Russell – Binscarth The Municipality of Russell – Binscarth is a List of rural municipalities in Manitoba, rural municipality (RM) in the Parkland Region of Manitoba, Canada. It is located in the far western part of the province and shares a border with the nei ...

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 ...

. It is located approximately northwest of Brandon, south from Russell, and east of the

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 ...

border. Prior to 1 January 2015, it was designated as a

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

. The economic base of Binscarth and area is a mix of agriculture and service businesses. Major industrial employers in the area include three

potash Potash ( ) includes various mined and manufactured salts that contain potassium in water- soluble form.

mines nearby in Saskatchewan (

Nutrien Nutrien is a Canadian fertilizer company based in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. It is the largest producer of potash, second largest producer of nitrogen fertilizer in the world and generally the 2nd largest in fertilizers worldwide. It has over 2,0 ...

in Rocanville, and

Mosaic A mosaic () is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/Mortar (masonry), mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and ...

K1 in Esterhazy and K2 in

Gerald Gerald is a masculine given name derived from the Germanic languages prefix ''ger-'' ("spear") and suffix ''-wald'' ("rule"). Gerald is a Norman French variant of the Germanic name. An Old English equivalent name was Garweald, the likely original ...

) and a

canola file:CanolaBlooms.JPG, Close-up of canola blooms file:Canola Flower.jpg, Canola flower Rapeseed oil is one of the oldest known vegetable oils. There are both Edible oil, edible and industrial forms produced from rapeseed, the seed of several ...

crushing plant A Crushing plant is one-stop crushing installation, which can be used for rock crushing, garbage crushing, building materials crushing and other similar operations. Crushing plants may be either fixed or mobile. A crushing plant has different stat ...

( Bunge) at Harrowby Manitoba.

History

The community was originally formed around a

stock farm Stock Farm or Stockfarm is a northern suburb of Roseau, Dominica. It contains the national prison of Dominica Stock Farm Prison, the Dominica State College Dominica State College (DSC) is a national college in Stockfarm, Dominica. It is an am ...

established by the Scottish Ontario and Manitoba Land Company some three miles northwest of the current townsite. It was named after the Company founder's ancestral home in the

Orkney Orkney (), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago off the north coast of mainland Scotland. The plural name the Orkneys is also sometimes used, but locals now consider it outdated. Part of the Northern Isles along with Shetland, ...

islands. When the Manitoba and Northwestern Railway (later

CPR Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is an emergency procedure used during cardiac or respiratory arrest that involves chest compressions, often combined with artificial ventilation, to preserve brain function and maintain circulation until sp ...

) was built through the area in 1886, the railway station was established at the current site of SE15-19-28W, and the community soon relocated itself there, incorporating as a

in 1917. In 2015, Binscarth

amalgamated Amalgamation is the process of combining or uniting multiple entities into one form. Amalgamation, amalgam, and other derivatives may refer to: Mathematics and science * Amalgam (chemistry), the combination of mercury with another metal **Pan ama ...

with the town of Russell and the

Rural Municipality of Russell The Rural Municipality of Russell is a former rural municipality (RM) in the Canadian province of Manitoba. It was originally incorporated as a rural municipality on August 15, 1881. It ceased on January 1, 2015, as a result of its provincially ma ...

to form the Municipality of Russell-Binscarth.

Seekaywye

In 1964, Binscarth residents narrowly defeated (by ten votes) a proposal to rename itself ''Seekaywye'', after the

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

radio station CKY. If successful, the station would have promoted Binscarth/Seekaywye as a vacation resort. CKY also offered the same deal to

La Riviere, Manitoba LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second most populous city in the United States of America. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note *"L.A.", a song by Elliott Smi ...

, who also said no. For many years, the radio frequency of CKY 580 was remembered in local business names the 580 Hotel and 580 Plumbing and Heating.

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 ...

, Binscarth had a population of 420 living in 199 of its 213 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 407. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.

Attractions

The Binscarth & District Gordon Orr Memorial Museum has a large collection of Native artifacts. The museum is also one of only a handful of museums to exhibit an extinct bison skull. Also on display is a

Massey-Harris Massey Ferguson is an agricultural machinery manufacturer, established in 1953 through the merger of farm equipment makers Massey-Harris of Canada and the Ferguson-Brown Company, Ferguson Company of Ireland. It was based in Coventry then moved t ...

tractor, a

binder Binder may refer to: Businesses * Binder FBM, a former German jewelry manufactory * Binder Dijker Otte & Co., the expansion of "BDO" in BDO International Computing * Binder Project, package and share interactive, reproducible environments * Fil ...

, a

seed drill file:7263 Canterbury Agricultural College farm.jpg, Filling a feed-box of a seed drill, Lincoln University (New Zealand), Canterbury Agricultural College farm, 1948 A seed drill is a device used in agriculture that sowing, sows seeds for crops by ...

, and a 6-horsepower International Engine dating from 1905. There is also a general store, summer kitchen, chapel, and school room. The museum is open in July and August. Binscarth is home to the "largest outdoor swimming pool on the

Yellowhead highway The Yellowhead Highway () is a major interprovincial highway in Western Canada that runs from Winnipeg west to Graham Island off the coast of British Columbia via Saskatoon and Edmonton. It stretches across the four western provinces of Britis ...

." The pool, park and campground are located just south of the community in the Silver Creek valley.

Climate

References

*Billboard magazine, June 6, 1964, page 14 "CKY given a No vote"*

External links

Binscarth Homepage
{{Manitoba Designated places in Manitoba Unincorporated communities in Parkland Region, Manitoba Unincorporated urban communities in Manitoba Former villages in Manitoba Populated places disestablished in 2015