Wynyard is a
town
A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than city, cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world.
Origin and use
The word "town" shares ...
in eastern
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 ...
, Canada, 132 km west 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 the ...
and 190 km east of
Saskatoon
Saskatoon () is the largest city in the 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 Yellowhead Highway, and has served as ...
.
Wynyard is in but not part of the
rural municipality of
Big Quill No. 308. It is located on the
Yellowhead Highway
The Yellowhead Highway (french: Route Yellowhead) is a major interprovincial highway in Western Canada that runs from Winnipeg to Graham Island off the coast of British Columbia via Saskatoon and Edmonton. It stretches across the four western ...
just south of
Big Quill Lake
The Quill Lakes is a wetland complex in Saskatchewan, Canada that encompasses the endorheic basin of three distinct lake wetlands: Big Quill Lake, Middle Quill Lake, and Little Quill Lake. On May 27, 1987, it was designated a wetland of int ...
.
History
Many of the early settlers to the area around Big Quill Lake were of
Icelandic origin, and the ethnic
block settlement area was called the Vatnabyggd settlement. Sleipnir, a store and post office, was located at
NE 30-22-15 W2 and was the centre of community life of the Vatnabyggd settlement until it was moved into Wynyard in 1908.
The first wave of Icelandic settlers in the Wynyard area was soon followed by numerous Ukrainian settlers and then British, Polish, and German settlers.
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, Wynyard 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.
Climate
Attractions
The Frank Cameron Museum is closed, but there is a very interesting museum, downtown, on Avenue B. It has a good selection of local historical
artefacts and pictures, and occasionally has special exhibits, such as "wedding dresses through the decades".
*Wynyard Regional Park is the local camping site located a few kilometres from town.
*Wynyard is located just to the south-east of Big Quill Lake which is the largest saline lake in Canada, and south-west of Little Quill Lake.
[
]
*Mud Lake Wildlife Refuge is 19 km (12 miles) from town.
[
]
* Wynyard Golf Club (a 9-hole golf course) offers the Wynyard Hole in One Tournament, Wynyard Ladies Night Golf, and Wynyard Men's Night Golf.
* The Wynyard Swimming Pool and the Wynyard Stingrays Synchronized Swimming Team.
Heritage sites
Three of
designated heritage sites are located in Wynyard:
*Wynyard Court House (built in 1927)
*Canadian Pacific Railway Station (built in 1909)
*Wynyard Federated Church (built in 1921)
Activities and sports
The Town of Wynyard has several sports teams: the Wynyard Blues Mens
Fastball
The fastball is the most common type of pitch thrown by pitchers in baseball and softball. " Power pitchers," such as former American major leaguers Nolan Ryan and Roger Clemens, rely on speed to prevent the ball from being hit, and have t ...
Team, th
Wynyard Monarchs hockey team of the Long Lake Hockey League (LLHL), and the Wynyard Monarchs of the senior men's
Highway Hockey League.
Wynyard plays host to many activities and groups such as Wynyard Air Cadets, Wynyard Minor Baseball, Wynyard Minor Hockey, Wynyard Fireman's Association, Wynyard Kinettes, Wynyard Kinsmen, Wynyard Legion, Wynyard School of Dance, Wynyard Senior Appreciation Days, Wynyard Senior Centre, and Wynyard Shriners.
Media
*The local news is reported in the Wynyard Advance Gazette.
*Television channel stations which reach Yorkton are CBC, CTV as well as all Yorkton channels.
*Local Radio Station is 107.5 Bolt FM, located in Humboldt.
Transportation
Wynyard is located on
Saskatchewan Highway 16
Highway 16 is a provincial highway in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It is the Saskatchewan section of the Yellowhead Highway, and also the Trans-Canada Highway Yellowhead section. The main purpose of this highway is to connect Sask ...
. Wynyard was made a
divisional point on the
Canadian Pacific Railway
The Canadian Pacific Railway (french: Chemin de fer Canadien Pacifique) , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canad ...
when it came through. No longer providing passenger service the
Wynyard railway station is a designated historical railway station.
Wynyard/W. B. Needham Field Aerodrome also facilitate transportation in and out of Wynyard and area.
Education
The town is home to the Wynyard Elementary School and Wynyard Composite High School in the Horizon School Division #205.
The high school team, the Wynyard Golden Bears, play basketball, football, volleyball, and soccer. The high school also participates in cross country, track, and badminton.
The one-room school houses of the early 1900s were called Wynyard School District #2499 and Nordra School #1947. The latter offered a course in Icelandic when it was first constructed in 1907 as the early school administration allowed an hour each day from 3 pm to 4 pm for foreign language instruction.
[
] Currently there are several venues for education in Wynyard.
Further reading
*''Reflections by the Quills'' by Quill Historical Society of Wynyard, Saskatchewan
[Quill Historical Society (1981). ''Reflections by the Quills'', Quill Historical Society of Wynyard, Canada. .]
See also
*
List of towns in Saskatchewan
*
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 no ...
*
List of historic places in Saskatchewan
References
{{coord, display=title, name=Wynyard, Saskatchewan, 51, 46, N, 104, 11, W, region:CA_type:city_source:GNS-enwiki
Big Quill No. 308, Saskatchewan
Towns in Saskatchewan
Places in Canada settled by Icelanders
Icelandic settlements in Saskatchewan
Division No. 10, Saskatchewan