Nestled in
the southeast corner of Saskatchewan,
Weyburn is a small yet bustling prairie city with much to
offer to both its residents and tourists alike. It is located
75 km (46 miles) north of the American border at Fortuna,
North Dakota via Highway 35 and 116 km (71 miles) down Highways
6 and 39 from Regina, Saskatchewan's capital city. Specifically,
Weyburn is a 70-minute drive from Regina, a five hour drive
from Winnipeg, Manitoba (Manitoba's capital city), a three-hour
drive from Minot, North Dakota, and a 10-hour trip from
Minneapolis, Minnesota. Weyburn sits near the headwaters
of the Souris River, which flows southeast through North
Dakota to join the Assiniboine River in Manitoba.
Nearly 10,000 residents call Weyburn their home. Weyburn's
immediate trading area services more than 50,000 people
from nearby communities, villages, and towns. Its main economic
base is comprised of agricultural service and shipping,
oilfield exploration, development, and service, manufacturing
and processing, and business and industry services. |
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Weyburn's rich soils
have made for excellent grain farming in the area, helping
make Weyburn the country's highest-volume inland grain handling
centre. This has led to the development of a major farm
service and supply sector for Weyburn and the development
of Canada's largest privately owned inland grain terminal,
the Weyburn Inland Terminal.
Weyburn's location on the rim of the geological Williston
Basin, one of the richest oil sources on the North American
prairies, has allowed the city to become a major oilfield
service centre. More than 600 oil wells operate in Weyburn's
immediate area.
Transportation in and around Weyburn include the Municipal
Airport, which provides service to business travellers,
charter flights, and pleasure flyers, the Soo Line Railway
that connects Western Canada's main rail lines at Moose
Jaw with the American rail centres in Minneapolis and Chicago,
and three main highways, including one to Minot, North Dakota
via the North Portal border crossing. |
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| Notable former citizens
of Weyburn include author W.O. Mitchell, who was born and
raised in Weyburn, and T.C 'Tommy' Douglas, former Saskatchewan
premier and former CCF political party leader, who was a
Baptist minister in Weyburn prior to his political career. |
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| Weyburn
is a city in southeastern Saskatchewan, Canada. It is located
on the Souris River 110 kilometres (68 miles) southeast
of the provincial capital of Regina and is 70 km (43 mi)
north of the border with the United States. The name is
reputedly a corruption of the Scottish "wee burn,"
referring to a small creek. |
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| History |
| The
Canadian Pacific Railway reached the future site of Weyburn
from Brandon, Manitoba in 1892 and the Soo Line from North
Portal on the US border in 1893. A post office opened in
1895 and a land office in 1899 in anticipation of the land
rush which soon ensued. Weyburn was legally constituted
a village in 1900, a town in 1903 and as a city in 1913.
The Soo Line Historical Museum (c. 1910) is a Municipal
Heritage Property on the Canadian Register of Historic Places. |
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| Facilities |
Today
the city's facilities include:
- 220
stores and services
- five
elementary schools, two junior high schools and one
high school; and the Southeast Regional College
- public
library
- Weyburn
General Hospital
- municipal
police and fire departments
- some
15 churches
- two
radio stations
- a
weekly newspaper, the Weyburn Review, established in
1909.
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| Sports |
| Weyburn
is the home of the Weyburn Red Wings of the Saskatchewan
Junior Hockey League (SJHL). The Red Wings have been Canadian
Junior A Hockey League Champions on two occasions, in 1984
and 2005. Weyburn is also home to the Beavers of the Western
Major Baseball League (WMBL.ca), A collegiate summer baseball
league located in the prairie provinces of Canada. |
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| Noteworthy
Weyburnites |
| Weyburn
was the birthplace of Canadian writers W. O. Mitchell, Guy
Gavriel Kay and Mark Steven Morton, and former National
Hockey League player Dave "Tiger" Williams. It
was also home to Canadian politician Tommy Douglas who is
credited with the establishment of Medicare in Canada. In
2005, Douglas was voted the Greatest Canadian in a nationwide
poll on Canadian Broadcasting Corporations "The Greatest
Canadian". British medical researcher Dr Humphry Osmond
is also a former resident of Weyburn. It is also the birthplace
of the former Premier of Prince Edward Island, Pat Binns.
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| Economy |
| Weyburn
is the largest inland grain gathering point in Canada. Well
over half a million tons of grain pass through the Weyburn
terminals each and every year. Weyburn is also home to the
world's only curling museum, the Turner Curling Museum.
Weyburn is also home to the Souris Valley Mental Health
Hospital (which was closed as a health care facility and
sold in 2006). When opened in 1921, it was the largest building
in The British Commonwealth and was considered on the cutting
edge of experimental treatments for people with mental disabilities.
The facility had a reputation of leading the way in therapeutic
programming. At its peak, the facility was home to approximately
2,500 patients. The history of the facility is explored
in the documentary Weyburn: An Archaeology of Madness. |
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| Infrastructure |
| Weyburn,
the opportunity city,has also been dubbed the Soo Line City
due its connection with Chicago on the Soo Line of the Canadian
Pacific Railway CPR. The city of 9,433 people is situated
on Sk Hwy 35, Sk Hwy 39, and Sk Hwy 13. The small towns
of Exon and Converge have been absorbed into the city of
Weyburn today. The Pasqua branch or the Souris, Arcola,
Weyburn, Regina CPR branch, Portal Section CPR on the Soo
Line, Moose Jaw, Weyburn, Shaunavon, Lethbridge section
CPR, The Brandon, Maryfield, Carlyle, Lampman, Radville,
Willow Bunch section CNR, and the Regina, Weyburn, Radville,
Estevan, Northgate section CNR have all run through Weyburn.
Weyburn is located astride the Williston geological Basin
which contains oil deposits, and several wells operate in
the vicinity. Weyburn features roadside attractions of a
large Lighthouse Water Tower, Wheat sheaves and Prairie
Lily. Weyburn is situated near the upper delta of the 470
mile long Souris River. The Souris River continues southeast
through North Dakota eventually meeting the Assiniboine
River in Manitoba. In the 1800s this area was known as an
extension of the Greater Yellow Grass Marsh. Extensive flood
control programs have created reservoirs, parks and waterfowl
centres along the Souris River. Between 1988 to 1995, the
Rafferty-Alameda Project was constructed to alleviate spring
flooding problems created by the Souris River. |
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| Demographics |
| The
city had a population of 9,433 in 2006, having declined
from 9,534 in 2001.
According
to the Canada 2006 Census:
Population:
9,433 (-1.1% from 2001)
Land area:
15.78 km2 (6.09 sq mi)
Population density:
597.7
inhabitants per square kilometre (1,548 /sq mi)
Median age:
39.8 (males: 38.1, females: 41.4)
Total private dwellings:
4,267
Dwellings occupied by permanent residents:
4,046
Median household income:
$38,469
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