Melville, Saskatchewan

Melville is a small city in the east-central portion of Saskatchewan, Canada. The city is 145 kilometres (90 mi) northeast of the provincial capital of Regina and 45 kilometres (28 mi) southwest of Yorkton. Melville is bordered by the rural municipalities of Cana No. 214 and Stanley No. 215. Its population at the 2016 census was 4,562, making it Saskatchewan's smallest city. It is also home of hockey's Melville Millionaires, who compete in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League, and baseball's Melville Millionaires, who competed in the Western Canadian Baseball League until 2019.

Melville
City
City of Melville
City of Melville
City of Melville
Melville is located in Saskatchewan
Melville
Melville
Coordinates: 50°55′50″N 102°48′28″W
CountryCanada
ProvinceSaskatchewan
Incorporated Village1908
Incorporated TownNovember 1, 1909
Incorporated CityAugust 1, 1960
Founded byGrand Trunk Pacific Railway
Named forCharles Melville Hays
Government
 • MayorWalter Streelasky
 • MLA Constituency of Melville-SaltcoatsWarren Kaeding
 • MP Yorkton—MelvilleCathay Wagantall
Area
 • Total14.82 km2 (5.72 sq mi)
Population
 (2016)[1]
 • Total4,562
 • Density307.8/km2 (797/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC−6 (Central Standard Time)
Highways Hwy 10 / Hwy 15 / Hwy 47
Pearl Park Post office established1905
Melville Post office establishedJuly 1, 1908
Websitemelville.ca
[2][3][4][5][6][7][8]

History

According to What's in a Name?: The Story Behind Saskatchewan Places and Names by E. T. Russell, and People Places: Contemporary Saskatchewan Place Names 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.[9][10] Hays was on board the RMS Titanic when it sank; he did not make it off the ship.

Pearl Park was the area's first post office established in 1905 near the Pearl Creek, a tributary of the Qu'Appelle River.[11] 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

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Melville had a population of 4,493 living in 2,078 of its 2,296 total private dwellings, a change of -1.5% from its 2016 population of 4,562. With a land area of 14.78 km2 (5.71 sq mi), it had a population density of 304.0/km2 (787.3/sq mi) in 2021.[12]

Canada census – Melville community profile
202120162011
Population4,493 (-1.5% from 2016)4562 (0.4% from 2011)4517 (8.9% from 2006)
Land area14.78 km2 (5.71 sq mi)14.82 km2 (5.72 sq mi)14.82 km2 (5.72 sq mi)
Population density304/km2 (790/sq mi)307.8/km2 (797/sq mi)304.8/km2 (789/sq mi)
Median age45.2 (M: 44, F: 47.2)46.0 (M: 44.7, F: 46.7)
Private dwellings2,075 (total)  2329 (total)  2000 (total) 
Median household income
References: 2021[13] 2016[14] 2011[15] earlier[16][17]

Government

The mayor of Melville is Dr. Walter Streelasky.

Provincially, Melville is within the constituency of Melville-Saltcoats. It is currently represented by Saskatchewan Party MLA Warren Kaeding.

Melville is represented in the House of Commons of Canada by the MP of the Yorkton—Melville riding, currently Cathay Wagantall of the Conservative Party of Canada.[2][4][5][6]

Infrastructure

Melville's namesake was the president of the Grand Trunk Railway and Grand Trunk Pacific Railway, Charles Melville Hays.[9] 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-to-bus connection to Regina for its passengers. Today, the transcontinental Canadian train, operated by national passenger rail carrier Via Rail, serves the Melville railway station three times per week.

In 2002 the St. Peter's Hospital was constructed. St. Peter's was founded in 1940 as a municipal hospital by the Sisters of St. Martha, based in Antigonish, Nova Scotia. Next to St. Peter's is the St. Paul Lutheran Home.[18]

The Melville Railway Museum[19] (c. 1911) is a Municipal Heritage Property on the Canadian Register of Historic Places.[20]

The Melville Heritage Museum is in the original Luther College (formerly Luther Academy) building, built in 1913. The Luther Academy moved to Regina in 1926. After a stint as St. Paul's Home for the Aged and Orphans, the building was declared a heritage site, opening as a museum in the early 1980s.

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.[21]

Melville airport
Saskatchewan 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[22][23] The Carlton Regional College Basic Education is located nearby in Lestock. Davison School, as part of the Good Spirit School Division offers pre-kindergarten to grade 6 education. The Melville Comprehensive School, a part of the Good Spirit School Division provides secondary education.[24][25] Parkland Regional College provides post secondary technical training and operates a campus out of the Melville Comprehensive High School building.[26] Parkland College operates its NFPA fire training field near the Melville Municipal Airport.

Sports

Melville is home to the Melville Millionaires of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League, as well as the Melville Millionaires of the Western Canadian Baseball League, who last played in the 2019 season.

In 2011 the Melville Communiplex opened. The federal and provincial governments covered $20 million of the construction costs of the $24.5 million facility. The Communiplex has an NHL size ice surface and seating capacity for 1,500 people, a walking track, fitness and cardio care facilities, and a convention centre. It replaces the existing 60-year-old Melville Stadium, home to the Melville Millionaires.[27]

The city also has an 18-hole golf course.

Melville Senior Champions of Saskatchewan, 1923–24.

Media
Newspaper
  • The Melville Advance, a weekly paper.[28]
Radio

Melville currently has no current FM or AM radio stations, instead they are serviced by a digital radio station called: The Buzz (www.TheBuzzRocks.ca) and coming soon, The Axe- Melville's newer Alternative Music:

Frequency Call sign Branding Format Owner Notes
AM 940 CJGX GX94 country music Harvard Broadcasting
FM 91.7 CBK-FM-3 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
Digital Online The Buzz Rock Pearl Creek Media Web Based Digital Radio Station

Television

Recreation

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

In the film Hannibal Rising (2007), title character Hannibal Lecter shows up in the "hamlet of Melville" in the final scene. However the town depicted is surrounded by forest and is referred to as "near Saskatoon".

Notable residents
Historic 1908 Canadian National Railway station.[29]
Grain elevator.

Location

References
  1. "2016 Census Profile". Statistics Canada. Government of Canada. February 8, 2017. Retrieved March 15, 2017.
  2. Canadian Textiles Institute. (2005). "CTI Determine your provincial constituency". Archived from the original on September 11, 2007. Retrieved September 6, 2009.
  3. National Archives, Archivia Net. "Post Offices and Postmasters". Archived from the original on October 6, 2006. Retrieved September 6, 2009.
  4. Government of Saskatchewan, MRD Home. "Municipal Directory System". Archived from the original on January 15, 2016. Retrieved September 6, 2009.
  5. Commissioner of Canada Elections, Chief Electoral Officer of Canada (2005). "Elections Canada On-line". Archived from the original on April 21, 2007. Retrieved September 6, 2009.
  6. "Melville". Sask Biz Community Profiles Enterprise Saskatchewan. Government of Saskatchewan. Retrieved September 6, 2009.
  7. Giannetta, J. (March 2003). "Saskatchewan Communities - the cities (a brief history)". Saskatchewan Schools. Archived from the original on April 18, 2003. Retrieved September 9, 2009.
  8. "Geographical Names of Canada". Natural Resources Canada > Earth Sciences Sector > Priorities > Mapping Services Branch >. Government of Canada. Retrieved September 9, 2009.
  9. E.T. Russell, ed. (1975). What's In a Name?. Saskatoon: Western Producer Prairie Books. ISBN 0-919306-39-X.
  10. Barry, Bill (2003). People Places Contemporary Saskatchewan Placenames. Regina, Canada: Print West communications. p. 230. ISBN 1-894022-92-0.
  11. Barry, Bill (2005). Geographic Names of Saskatchewan. Regina, SK: People Places Publishing Ltd. ISBN 1-897010-19-2.
  12. "Population and dwelling counts: Canada, provinces and territories, census divisions and census subdivisions (municipalities), Saskatchewan". Statistics Canada. February 9, 2022. Retrieved March 27, 2022.
  13. "2021 Community Profiles". 2021 Canadian Census. Statistics Canada. February 4, 2022. Retrieved April 27, 2022.
  14. "2016 Community Profiles". 2016 Canadian Census. Statistics Canada. August 12, 2021. Retrieved March 15, 2017.
  15. "2011 Community Profiles". 2011 Canadian Census. Statistics Canada. March 21, 2019.
  16. "2006 Community Profiles". 2006 Canadian Census. Statistics Canada. August 20, 2019.
  17. "2001 Community Profiles". 2001 Canadian Census. Statistics Canada. July 18, 2021.
  18. "St. Peter's Hospital". 2016.
  19. Melville Railway Museum
  20. Canadian Register of Historic Places.
  21. Canada Flight Supplement. Effective 0901Z 16 July 2020 to 0901Z 10 September 2020.
  22. "École St. Henry's Junior Elementary School". Christ the Teacher Catholic School Division. 2009. Archived from the original on February 13, 2009. Retrieved September 9, 2009.
  23. "St. Paul's Catholic Elementary School". Christ the Teacher Catholic School Division. 2009. Retrieved September 9, 2009.
  24. "Yorkton Regional High School". History 20: Curriculum Guide - Acknowledgements. 2009. Retrieved September 9, 2009.
  25. "Melville Comprehensive School". Good Spirit School Division. Retrieved September 9, 2009.
  26. "Parkland Regional College". 2009. Retrieved September 9, 2009.
  27. "Melville Communiplex". 2011.
  28. "Fort Qu'Appelle Times • Indian Head-Wolseley News • Kipling Clipper • Melville Advance • Whitewood-Grenfell Herald Sun - Grasslands News".
  29. Melville Canadian National Railways Station
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