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 compete in the Western Canadian Baseball League.

Melville
City
City of Melville
City of Melville
Melville
Coordinates: 50°55′50″N 102°48′28″W
CountryCanada
ProvinceSaskatchewan
Incorporated Village1908
Incorporated TownNovember 1, 1909
Incorporated CityAugust 1, 1960
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
[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
Canada census – Melville, Saskatchewan community profile
2016 2011 2006
Population: 4562 (0.4% from 2011) 4517 (8.9% from 2006) 4149 (-6.8% from 2001)
Land area: 14.82 km2 (5.72 sq mi) 14.82 km2 (5.72 sq mi) 14.82 km2 (5.72 sq mi)
Population density: 307.8/km2 (797/sq mi) 304.8/km2 (789/sq mi) 280.0/km2 (725/sq mi)
Median age: 46.0 (M: 44.7, F: 46.7) 46.5 (M: 45.6, F: 47.8)
Total private dwellings: 2329 2000 2093
Median household income:
References: 2016[12] 2011[13] 2006[14] earlier[15]

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.[16]

The Melville Railway Museum[17] (c. 1911) is a Municipal Heritage Property on the Canadian Register of Historic Places.[18]

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.[19]

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[20][21] 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.[22][23] Parkland Regional College provides post secondary technical training and operates a branch school out of the Melville Comprehensive High School building.[24]

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.

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.[25]

The city also has an 18-hole golf course.


Melville Senior Champions of Saskatchewan, 1923–24.

Media
Newspaper
  • The Melville Advance, a weekly paper.[26]
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):

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

  • CICC-TV Yorkton channel 10, CTV, SNN

Recreation

Within 20 kilometres (12 mi) are the Melville Game Preserve, Melville Regional Park 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.[27]
Grain elevator.

Location

References
  1. "2016 Census Profile". Statistics Canada. Government of Canada. Retrieved 2017-03-15.
  2. Canadian Textiles Institute. (2005). "CTI Determine your provincial constituency". Archived from the original on 2007-09-11. Retrieved 2009-09-06.
  3. National Archives, Archivia Net. "Post Offices and Postmasters". Archived from the original on 2006-10-06. Retrieved 2009-09-06.
  4. Government of Saskatchewan, MRD Home. "Municipal Directory System". Archived from the original on January 15, 2016. Retrieved 2009-09-06.
  5. Commissioner of Canada Elections, Chief Electoral Officer of Canada (2005). "Elections Canada On-line". Archived from the original on 2007-04-21. Retrieved 2009-09-06.
  6. "Melville". Sask Biz Community Profiles Enterprise Saskatchewan. Government of Saskatchewan. Retrieved 2009-09-06.
  7. Giannetta, J. (March/03 updated September 2009). "SASKATCHEWAN COMMUNITIES - the cities (a brief history)". Saskatchewan Schools. Archived from the original on 2003-04-18. Retrieved 2009-09-09. Check date values in: |date= (help)
  8. "Geographical Names of Canada". Natural Resources Canada > Earth Sciences Sector > Priorities > Mapping Services Branch >. Government of Canada. Retrieved 2009-09-09.
  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. "2016 Community Profiles". 2016 Canadian Census. Statistics Canada. February 21, 2017. Retrieved 2017-03-15.
  13. "2011 Community Profiles". 2011 Canadian Census. Statistics Canada. July 5, 2013.
  14. "2006 Community Profiles". 2006 Canadian Census. Statistics Canada. March 30, 2011.
  15. "2001 Community Profiles". 2001 Canadian Census. Statistics Canada. February 17, 2012.
  16. "St. Peter's Hospital". 2016.
  17. Melville Railway Museum
  18. Canadian Register of Historic Places.
  19. Canada Flight Supplement. Effective 0901Z 30 January 2020 to 0901Z 26 March 2020.
  20. "École St. Henry's Junior Elementary School". Christ the Teacher Catholic School Division. 2009. Archived from the original on February 13, 2009. Retrieved 2009-09-09.
  21. "St. Paul's Catholic Elementary School". Christ the Teacher Catholic School Division. 2009. Retrieved 2009-09-09.
  22. "Yorkton Regional High School". History 20: Curriculum Guide - Acknowledgements. 2009. Retrieved 2009-09-09.
  23. "http://mcs.gssd.ca/". Good Spirit School Division. Retrieved 2009-09-09. External link in |title= (help)
  24. "Parkland Regional College". 2009. Retrieved 2009-09-09.
  25. "Melville Communiplex". 2011.
  26. http://www.melvilleadvance.com
  27. Melville Canadian National Railways Station
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