Estevan

History

The first settlers in what was to become Estevan arrived in 1892, along with the expansion of the Canadian Pacific Railway. It was incorporated as a village in 1899, and later became a town in 1906. On March 1, 1957, Estevan acquired the status of a city, which, in Saskatchewan terms, is any community of 5,000 or more.{{cite encyclopedia |access-date = 2010-11-03 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121124095635/http://esask.uregina.ca/entry/estevan.html |archive-date = 2012-11-24 |url-status = dead

The name origin is attributed to George Stephen's registered telegraphic address, Estevan. George Stephen was the first President of the Canadian Pacific Railway, from 1881 to 1888.

World War I military unit

On December 22, 1915, the 152nd (Weyburn-Estevan) Battalion, CEF was authorised and recruited men from the area before departing to Great Britain on October 3, 1916.

1931 riot

Estevan was the site of the notorious Estevan riot in 1931. Although most of the strikers were from nearby Bienfait, the strike is associated with Estevan because it was in this city the demonstrators were met by members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. After the subsequent riot, which lasted 45 minutes, three strikers lay dead. It was later proven the three miners had been killed by the RCMP. The miners had been organised by the Workers' Unity League.

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Estevan had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of 18.3 km2, it had a population density of in 2021.

|1901|181 |1911|1,981 |1921|2,290 |1931|2,936 |1941|3,120 |1951|3,935 |1961|7,728 |1971|9,150 |1981|9,174 |1991|10,240 |2001|10,242 |2006|10,084 |2011|11,054 |2016|11,258 |2021|10,851

Ethnicity

Economy

The major industries in Estevan are coal mining, power generation at nearby Boundary Dam Power Station and Shand Power Station, oil and gas, and agriculture.

Arts and culture

Museums and galleries

The city of Estevan has two museums, one of which is primarily a gallery.

The Estevan Art Gallery and Museum, formerly the Estevan National Exhibition Centre, was founded in 1978. The Estevan Art Gallery is a free public gallery that showcases contemporary art. The Gallery's permanent collection includes woodblock-print works by Andrew King. The Estevan Art Gallery and Museum, EAGM, also features the North-West Mounted Police Wood End Post Historical Site, NWMP Museum. This museum is in a house which is the oldest-known North-West Mounted Police Detachment Post in Saskatchewan and holds a collection related to the North-West Mounted Police and the 1874 March West from Roche Percee to Estevan.

The Souris Valley Museum, SVM, is a local and regional history museum focused on human development and daily life within south-east Saskatchewan. It was founded in 2001, primarily from the collection of Stan Durr. The museum provides an engaging depiction of the social and cultural influences and economic development of south-east Saskatchewan. The collection includes the Schneller Schoolhouse, a Threshing Cook Car, a Homesteader Shack, two of Estevan's original Firetrucks, and a Heritage Mining Display.

Arts council

The Estevan Arts Council, founded in 1967, is a non-profit organisation that offers art classes and workshops, adjudicates art shows, hosts concerts, and provides a youth art scholarships through the work of volunteers and community donations and grants.

Sports

Affinity Place is a 2,650 seat Multi-Purpose Entertainment and Sports Facility that was built to supplement the two other ageing ice surfaces in Estevan, the Civic Auditorium and Lignite Miners Centre. It opened on 15 April 2011. Affinity Place is home to the Estevan Bruins, a junior ice hockey team playing in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL), and the Midget AAA Estevan Bears. Affinity Place also has a Racquetball court, swimming pool, and a gym. Right next to Affinity Place is the Estevan Curling Club.

The nine-team Saskota Baseball League has two teams in Estevan, the Southeast Diamondbacks and the Estevan Tap House Wolves.

A former Estevan team, the Estevan Bears, played in the Big 6 Hockey League. They won the Lincoln Trophy three straight years from 1985 to 1987. CJSL AM 1150 broadcasts many Big 6 hockey games.

The Estevan Motor Speedway hosts regular stock car races in the summer. It’s the only racetrack in Canada certified by the International Motor Contest Association (IMCA).

The city's only high school, Estevan Comprehensive School, offers athletics in a range of sports including football, volleyball and basketball.

Climate

Estevan has a humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification Dfb) It falls into the NRC Plant Hardiness Zone 4a.

Estevan's climate is characterized by cold, long, and dry winters with warm, short and, relatively humid summers. The mean temperature in January, the coldest month, is -13.9 C. The precipitation in winter is chiefly snow, averaging 56.0 cm. The spring is a short transitional season, with a mean temperature of 4.4 C and 107.3 mm of precipitation, with significant snowfall in April. The summer is usually warm (the mean average high temperature is 25.3 C (average high in July, the warmest month, is 25.9 C and humid (190.8 mm of total precipitation). Autumn, as spring, is transitional, being warm in September and cooler in October and November. At this time of the year, the average temperature is 4.6 C and the total precipitation is 85.9 mm. Estevan is the sunniest city year-round in Canada, and it is also the city with the clearest skies year round in Canada.

The highest temperature ever recorded in Estevan was 43.3 C on 5 July 1936,{{cite web | access-date = 6 April 2016}} and 5 July 1937.{{cite web | access-date = 6 April 2016}} The coldest temperature ever recorded was -46.7 C on 11 January 1916,{{cite web | access-date = 6 April 2016}} and 16 February 1936.{{cite web | access-date = 6 April 2016}}

|Jan record high C = 11.4 |Feb record high C = 17.0 |Mar record high C = 26.1 |Apr record high C = 32.2 |May record high C = 38.7 |Jun record high C = 39.1 |Jul record high C = 43.3 |Aug record high C = 41.1 |Sep record high C = 38.3 |Oct record high C = 33.3 |Nov record high C = 22.1 |Dec record high C = 15.6 |year record high C = 43.3 |Jan record low C = -46.7 |Feb record low C = -46.7 |Mar record low C = -36.7 |Apr record low C = -25.0 |May record low C = -10.6 |Jun record low C = -3.9 |Jul record low C = -0.6 |Aug record low C = -3.3 |Sep record low C = -11.1 |Oct record low C = -21.5 |Nov record low C = -32.8 |Dec record low C = -39.5 |year record low C = -46.7 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200714071822/ftp://ftp.tor.ec.gc.ca/Pub/Normals/English/ | archive-date = 2020-07-14 | url-status = dead | access-date = October 26, 2013}}{{cite web | access-date = 6 April 2016}}{{cite web | access-date = 2 October 2023}}

Gallery

File:Estevan City Hall.jpg|City hall File:20161210 151014 v3.jpg|A downtown street in the winter File:Estevan Court House.jpg|The law court File:DP8 6384.jpg|Highway 47 going into Estevan File:Estevan Water Tower.jpg|Water tower

Local media

Newspapers

• The Estevan Mercury, the newspaper in Estevan since 1903, provided weekly distribution to every household in the city free of charge until 2025, when it ceased publication. The outlet continues to provide local information through its online affiliate, Sasktoday.ca. It also had a free TMC newspaper circulated throughout southeast Saskatchewan to over 9,000 homes; the Southeast Trader Express.
• Pipeline News, Saskatchewan Petroleum Monthly newspaper is also based out of Estevan. Southeast Saskatchewan has a significant amount of oil production, and the Pipeline News' main office is situated locally to report on these matters.
• Estevan Lifestyles is a free circulation weekly publication that shares the stories of the people in the Estevan area and the southeast corner of Saskatchewan. The publication also publishes NewsBreak, a daily coffee paper geared towards lighter reading.

Radio

• CJSL AM 1150, CHSN-FM 102.3, and CKSE-FM 106.1 all broadcast from studios on 5th Street in Estevan.
• The news website DiscoverEstevan.com is also run by the radio station offering local news, weather, and sports. All are owned by Golden West Broadcasting.

Notable residents

• Blair Atcheynum, National Hockey League (NHL) player
• Dave Batters, politician
• Dennis Cooley, poet
• Kimbi Daniels, hockey player
• Ana Egge, folk singer/songwriter
• Mina Forsyth, artist
• Eric Grimson, computer scientist, educator
• Chris Henderson, musician
• Howard Hilstrom, politician
• Andrew David Irvine, playwright
• Tanner Jeannot, NHL player
• Todd Kerns, musician
• Ross King, author
• Bill Knight, politician
• Ed Komarnicki, politician
• Eli Mandel, poet
• Fred Mandel, session musician
• Punch McLean, hockey coach
• Gerald McLellan, Saskatchewan ombudsman
• Al Nicholson, hockey player
• Brayden Pachal, NHL player
• Derrick Pouliot, NHL player
• Arnold Richardson, curler
• Andy Shauf, musician
• Kim Thorson, lawyer and politician
• Blaine Thurier, musician and film producer

References

Notes

References

1. "Census Profile, 2016 Census".
2. "Estevan".
3. Hanson, Stanley Duane. (1971). "The Estevan Strike and Riot, 1931". University of Saskatchewan.
4. (February 9, 2022). "Population and dwelling counts: Canada, provinces and territories, census divisions and census subdivisions (municipalities), Saskatchewan". [[Statistics Canada]].
5. Government of Canada, Statistics Canada. (2022-10-26). "Census Profile, 2021 Census of Population".
6. Government of Canada, Statistics Canada. (2021-10-27). "Census Profile, 2016 Census".
7. Government of Canada, Statistics Canada. (2015-11-27). "NHS Profile".
8. Government of Canada, Statistics Canada. (2019-08-20). "2006 Community Profiles".
9. Government of Canada, Statistics Canada. (2019-07-02). "2001 Community Profiles".
10. "Shand Power Station".
11. [http://sain.scaa.sk.ca/collections/index.php/estevan-national-exhibition-centre-fonds;rad Sain Collections – Estevan National Exhibition Centre] {{Webarchive. link. (22 December 2015 . Sain.scaa.sk.ca. Retrieved on 2015-12-13.)
12. [http://estevanartgallery.com/permanent.html Estevan Art Gallery & Museum – Permanent Collection] {{Webarchive. link. (2012-03-01 . Estevanartgallery.com. Retrieved on 2015-12-13.)
13. [http://estevanartgallery.com/museum.html Estevan Art Gallery & Museum – North West Mounted Police Museum] {{Webarchive. link. (2012-03-01 . Estevanartgallery.com. Retrieved on 2015-12-13.)
14. [http://www.sourisvalleymuseum.com/about.html About]. Souris Valley Museum. Retrieved on 2015-12-13.
15. [http://www.estevanartscouncil.com/about.html About] {{Webarchive. link. (2012-11-28 . Estevan Arts Council. Retrieved on 2015-12-13.)
16. "Affinity Place".
17. "Home".
18. "Estevan Bears - Powered By esportsdesk.com".
19. "Home".
20. "Saskota Baseball League - Home".
21. "Plant Hardiness Zone by Municipality". Government of Canada.
22. link. (2012-03-15 [http://amsglossary.allenpress.com/glossary/search?id=summer1 Summer is June, July and August.] {{Webarchive). link. (2011-08-06 [http://amsglossary.allenpress.com/glossary/search?id=autumn1 Autumn is September, October and November.] {{Webarchive). link. (2011-08-06 [http://amsglossary.allenpress.com/glossary/search?id=winter1 Winter is December, January and February.] {{Webarchive). link. (2011-08-06)
23. Environment Canada. (2009-08-12). "The Atlas of Canada – Weather".
24. Prisciak, David. (2025-01-09). "Saskatchewan newspaper predating province's formation ceases publication".
25. [http://www.estevanmercury.ca estevanmercury.ca]. estevanmercury.ca. Retrieved on 2015-12-13.
26. [http://www.pipelinenews.ca pipelinenews.ca]. pipelinenews.ca. Retrieved on 2015-12-13.
27. [http://www.sasklifestyles.com Estevan Lifestyles] {{Webarchive. link. (7 December 2021 . Sasklifestyles.com. Retrieved on 2015-12-13.)