Bienfait Explained

Official Name:Bienfait, Saskatchewan
Settlement Type:Town
Pushpin Map:Saskatchewan#Canada
Pushpin Label Position:none
Pushpin Mapsize:200
Pushpin Map Caption:Location of Bienfait in Saskatchewan
Coordinates:49.1465°N -102.7956°W
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Name:Canada
Subdivision Type1:Province
Subdivision Type2:Region
Subdivision Type3:Census division
Subdivision Name1:Saskatchewan
Subdivision Name3:1
Established Title:Post office established
Established Date:1893
Established Title2:Village
Established Date2:Apr 16, 1912
Established Title3:Town
Established Date3:March 1, 1957
Leader Title:Mayor
Leader Name:Ken Bonokoski
Area Total Km2:3.09
Population Total:780
Population As Of:2011
Population Density Km2:252.4
Postal Code Type:Postal code
Postal Code:S0C 0M0
Area Code:306
Footnotes:[1] [2]

Bienfait is a town in Saskatchewan on Highway 18 that is east of Estevan. It is surrounded by the RM of Coalfields.

For services, Bienfait has one school, a gas station, a curling rink[3] and an ice rink,[4] which is where the Bienfait Coalers[5] of the Big 6 Hockey League play. The Coalers have won the Lincoln Trophy 15 times, which is the most of any team.[6]

The Bienfait Museum is in the old CPR Station on the east end of town.[7] The original location for the station was on the CPR line on the north side of town.

History

Bienfait was incorporated as the Village of Bienfait on April 16, 1912. It became a town on March 1, 1957, and was named by the Canadian Pacific Railway after Antoine Charles Bienfait, a banker with Adolphe Boissevain & Company of Amsterdam since the firm had been involved in the sale of Canadian Pacific shares in Europe.

In 1931, striking coal miners marched from Bienfait to nearby Estevan, which resulted in the Estevan Riot.

Train / Caboose Lot

On the north side of town on Railway Avenue at the head of Main Street, sits a Manitoba & Saskatchewan Coal Company (M&S) Locomotive #3522, which is on the Canadian Register of Historic Places. The M & S Locomotive was built in 1907 and used to transport coal from the mines to Bienfait to market until 1968. It was one of the last commercially-functioning steam engines in Canada.[8]

The town of Bienfait acquired the locomotive in 1968 and the caboose in 2000. The caboose is an old Canadian National Railway caboose. This site was added to the list of historic places in Saskatchewan on March 28, 2002.

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Bienfait had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of 3.05km2, it had a population density of in 2021.[9]

Notable people

See also

References

Notes and References

  1. Web site: National Archives . Archivia Net . Post Offices and Postmasters . 6 September 2009 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20061006045957/http://www.collectionscanada.ca/archivianet/post-offices/001001-100.01-e.php . 6 October 2006 .
  2. Web site: Government of Saskatchewan . MRD Home . Municipal Directory System . 2014-03-11 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20160115125115/http://www.mds.gov.sk.ca/apps/Pub/MDS/welcome.aspx . January 15, 2016 .
  3. Web site: ▷ BIENFAIT CURLING RINK ✔ All the information about BIENFAIT CURLING RINK ✔ BIENFAIT. www.saskatchewan-businessdirectory.com.
  4. Web site: DiscoverEstevan.
  5. Web site: Bienfait Coalers at eliteprospects.com. www.eliteprospects.com.
  6. Web site: Big Six Hockey League . big six hockey . Big Six Hockey League . 3 February 2023.
  7. Web site: Bienfait Coalfields Historical Society Museum | Tourism Saskatchewan. www.tourismsaskatchewan.com.
  8. Web site: HistoricPlaces.ca - HistoricPlaces.ca.
  9. Web site: Population and dwelling counts: Canada, provinces and territories, census divisions and census subdivisions (municipalities), Saskatchewan . . February 9, 2022 . April 1, 2022.