Melville, Saskatchewan

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Melville
City
City of Melville
City of Melville
City of Melville
Melville is located in Saskatchewan
Melville
Melville
Coordinates: Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Country Canada
Province Saskatchewan
Incorporated Village 1908
Incorporated Town November 1, 1909
Incorporated City August 1, 1960
Government
 • Mayor Walter Streelasky
 • MLA Constituency of Melville-Saltcoats Bob Bjornerud
 • MP Yorkton—Melville Garry Breitkreuz
Area
 • Total 14.82 km2 (5.72 sq mi)
Population (2011)[1]
 • Total 4,517
 • Metro density 304.8/km2 (789/sq mi)
Time zone Central Standard Time (UTC−6)
Highways Hwy 10 Hwy 15 Hwy 47
Pearl Park Post office established 1905
Melville Post office established July 1, 1908
[2][3][4][5][6][7][8]

Melville is a small Canadian city located in the east-central portion of Saskatchewan. The city is 145 kilometres (90 mi) north east of the provincial capital of Regina and 45 kilometres (28 mi) south west of Yorkton. Melville is bordered by the rural municipalities of Cana No. 214 and Stanley No. 215. The population at the 2011 census was 4,517, making it the smallest official city in Saskatchewan.

History

According to What's in a Name?: The Story Behind Saskatchewan Places and Names by E. T. Russell, People Places Contemporary Saskatchewan Placenames by Bill Barry the city was named for Charles Melville Hays, who at the time of the settlement's initial construction was the president of the Grand Trunk Railway and Grand Trunk Pacific Railway.[10][11]

Pearl Park was the area's first post office established in 1905 near the Pearl creek, a tributary of the Qu'Appelle River.[12] Melville was declared a city by the province in 1960.

Panoramic views of Melville, 1913.
Grain elevator in Melville decorated for the visit of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in May, 1939.
Via Rail railway station in Melville, circa 1991

Demographics

Under Saskatchewan law, a town must have a sustained population of more than 5,000 in order to apply for and maintain a city charter. Melville is a notable exception to this rule, as it has retained its charter despite dropping below the 5000 threshold.

Government

Currently the mayor is Dr. Walter Streelasky.

Provincially, Melville is within the Constituency of Melville-Saltcoats. It is currently represented served by their MLA, Bob Bjornerud.

Melville is represented in the Canadian House of Commons by its MP of the Yorkton—Melville riding, currently Garry Breitkreuz.[2][4][5][6]

Infrastructure

Melville's namesake was the president of the Grand Trunk Railway and Grand Trunk Pacific Railway, Charles Melville Hays.[10] Since Melville's founding in 1908, it has served as a nexus for railroad activity, currently including that of Canadian National Railway and Via Rail, the latter for which Melville effectively serves as the main rail/bus connection to Regina for its passengers. Today Melville railway station is still served by The Canadian three times per week.

The Melville Railway Museum[15] (c. 1911) is a Municipal Heritage Property on the Canadian Register of Historic Places.[16]

Melville's connections by road to other communities include Saskatchewan Highways 10, 15 and 47. The closest major centre to Melville is the city of Yorkton, 43 kilometres to the northeast.

Melville Municipal Airport (TC LID: CJV9) is located 1.5 NM (2.8 km; 1.7 mi) east of the city.[17][not in citation given]

Melville airport
Saskattchewan Highway 15 marker, Melville.
Via Rail railway station in Melville.

Education

Melville is served by public and Catholic schools: École St. Henry's Junior Elementary School, and St. Henry's Sr School are both part of the Christ the Teacher Catholic School Division[18][19] The Carlton Regional College Basic Education is located nearby in Lestock. The Melville Comprehensive School, a part of the Good Spirit School Division provides secondary education.[20][21] Parkland Regional College provides post secondary technical training and operates a branch school out of the Melville Comprehensive High School building.[22]

Sports

Melville is home to the Melville Millionaires of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League, as well as the Melville Millionaires of the Western Major Baseball League.

The Building Communities Program, a provincial government initiative, has earmarked 3.7 million dollars to establish the Melville Communiplex. The communiplex will offer a new 1,700 seat ice arena, fitness and cardio care facilities, and a walking track. It will replace the existing 60-year-old Melville Stadium, home to the Melville Millionaires. The communiplex is estimated to cost between 13 and 16 million dollars.[23]

The city also has an 18 hole golf course.

Melville Senior Champions of Saskatchewan, 1923-24.

Media

Newspaper
  • The Melville Advance, a weekly paper.[24]
Radio

Melville currently has one rock radio station of its own and also receives Yorkton radio stations:

Frequency Call sign Branding Format Owner Notes
AM 940 CJGX GX94 country music Harvard Broadcasting
FM 91.7 CBK-FM3 CBC Radio 2 public broadcasting Canadian Broadcasting Corporation Rebroadcaster for CBK-FM
FM 92.9 CJLR-FM-5 MBC Radio First Nations community radio Missinipi Broadcasting Corporation Rebroadcaster for CJLR-FM
FM 94.1 CFGW-FM Fox FM hot adult contemporary Harvard Broadcasting
FM 98.5 CJJC-FM 98.5 The Rock Christian music Dennis M. Dyck
WIFI (Coming soon to FM) WIFI/Internet Parkland Rock Radio Hark Rock Parkland Broadcasting www.parklandrocks.com

Television

Recreation

Within 20 kilometres (12 mi) are the Melville Game Preserve, Melville Regional Park and Duff Recreation Site.[8]

Popular culture

In the film Hannibal Rising, the character of Hannibal Lecter shows up in the "hamlet of Melville" in the final scene of the movie. Oddly, the town is surrounded by forest and is referred to as "near Saskatoon."

Notable residents

Gallery

Historic 1908 Canadian National Railway station.[25]
Grain elevator.
Pontiac 2 (8060807446).jpg
Pontiac (8032915801).jpg

Location

 Ituna Springside Yorkton
Balcarres Churchbridge
  Melville  
Wolseley Grenfell Esterhazy

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.[dead link]
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Melville Railway Museum
  16. ↑ Canadian Register of Historic Places.
  17. ↑ Canada Flight Supplement. Effective 0901Z 24 July 2014 to 0901Z 18 September 2014
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.[dead link]
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ http://www.melvilleadvance.com
  25. ↑ Melville Canadian National Railways Station

External links

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