Turtleford Explained

Official Name:Turtleford
Settlement Type:Town
Pushpin Map:Saskatchewan#Canada
Pushpin Map Caption:Location of Turtleford in Saskatchewan
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Type1:Province
Subdivision Type2:Rural Municipalities (R.M.)
Subdivision Name:Canada
Subdivision Name1:Saskatchewan
Subdivision Name2:Mervin No. 499
Leader Title:Mayor
Leader Name:Olson, Roland (2012)
Leader Title1:M.L.A. of Cut Knife-Turtleford
Leader Name1:Larry Doke
Leader Title2:MP of Battlefords—Lloydminster
Leader Name2:Rosemarie Falk
Established Title:Post office Founded
Established Date:1913-12-01
Established Title2:Village
Established Title3:Town
Established Date3:July 1, 1983
Area Total Km2:1.69
Population As Of:2011
Population Total:525
Population Density Km2:311.6
Timezone:Central Standard Time
Utc Offset:−6
Utc Offset Dst:−5
Coordinates:53.3833°N -165°W
Postal Code Type:Postal code
Postal Code:S0M 2Y0
Blank Name:Highways
Website:Official Website
Footnotes:[1]

Turtleford is a town in the Rural Municipality of Mervin No. 499, in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. Turtleford is located on Highway 26 near the intersection / concurrency with Highway 3 and Highway 303. The nearest cities are North Battleford and Lloydminster. The Turtlelake River runs through Turtleford, and nearby are Brightsand Lake and Turtle Lake.

Turtleford has the Canada's largest turtle statue (more than eight feet tall), named Ernie. "Ernie the Turtle" is on Highway 26 near the south edge of town.

A small vulnerable songbird called Sprague's pipit has a breeding range in the northern Great Plains of North America, and amongst their breeding spots is Turtleford, Saskatchewan.[2]

History

First settled in 1907 and 1908 the town was named for its proximity to the early river crossing (or ford) on the Turtlelake River. A post office opened in 1913 and by 1914 the ongoing extension of a Canadian Northern Railway (CNoR) branch from North Battleford had reached Turtleford.[3] By 1915 dozens of businesses had opened and Turtleford became a major centre for the area population.

The North Battleford — Turtleford Branch of the CNoR (later merged into Canadian National Railway), which primarily serviced the grain elevators used by the farmers northwest of North Battleford, ceased operation by 2005, when the remaining elevators closed.[4] The branch had served Hamlin, Prince, Meota (1910 extension), Cavalier, Vawn, Edam, Mervin and Turtleford, and had been extended farther northwest to Cleeves, Spruce Lake, St. Walburg (1919 extension), with a fork to Paradise Hill and Frenchman Butte.[3] [4] The rail line and Saskatchewan Highway 26 ran beside each other from Prince to St. Walburg.

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Turtleford had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of 1.66km2, it had a population density of in 2021.[5]

Education

Turtleford (Turtleford Community School) belongs to Turtleford School Division #65 a part of Northwest School Division.Turtleford is served by Lakeland Library Region — Turtleford Branch

Media

Notable people

See also

External links

53.3833°N -165°W

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Government of Saskatchewan . MRD Home . Municipal Directory System . 2009-09-06 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20160115125115/http://www.mds.gov.sk.ca/apps/Pub/MDS/welcome.aspx . 2016-01-15 .
  2. Sprague's Pipit
  3. Web site: Map of Western Canada showing part of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta . Stovel Co. Ltd. . Waghorn's Guide . 1914 . 2015-06-24.
  4. Web site: Abandoned Rail Lines in Saskatchewan . Saskatchewan Trails Association . Troy A. M. Zimmer . 2008-09-14 . 2015-06-24 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20140124032849/http://www.sasktrails.ca/maps/SaskRailNetworkSept2008.pdf . 2014-01-24 .
  5. Web site: Population and dwelling counts: Canada, provinces and territories, census divisions and census subdivisions (municipalities), Saskatchewan . . February 9, 2022 . April 1, 2022.