Robsart, Saskatchewan

Robsart is an unincorporated hamlet within the rural municipality of Reno No. 51, in the province of Saskatchewan, Canada. Robsart had a population of 20 at the 2016 Canada Census (a 100% increase from 10 in the 2011 Canada Census). Robsart previously incorporated an independent village since 1912 until it was dissolved into an unincorporated community on January 1, 2002 under the jurisdiction of the rural municipality of Reno No. 51. Robsart is located 48 km southwest of the town of Eastend at the junction of Highway 18 and Highway 13 (also known as the historic Red Coat Trail) approximately 170 km south-east of Medicine Hat, Alberta, 68 km south of the Town of Maple Creek.

Robsart
Unincorporated hamlet
Main Street, Robsart, 2007
Motto(s): 
"A Town With a Bright Future" (1915)
Robsart
Robsart
Coordinates: 49.3729°N 109.282°W / 49.3729; -109.282
CountryCanada
ProvinceSaskatchewan
RegionSouthwest
Census division4
Rural MunicipalityReno No. 51
Established1910
Incorporated (Village)1912
Dissolved (Unincorporated)January 1, 2002
Government
 • Governing bodyReno No. 51[1]
 • ReeveBrian McMillan
 • AdministratorLacelle Kim
 • MPDavid L. Anderson
 • MLADoug Steele
Area
 • Total7.91 km2 (3.05 sq mi)
Population
 (2016)
 • Total20
 • Density11.7/km2 (30/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC-6 (CST)
Postal code
S0N 2G0
Area code(s)306
Highways Hwy 13
Hwy 18
RailwaysGreat Western Railway
[2][3][4][5]

Demographics

Prior to January 1, 2002, Robsart was incorporated as a village, and was dissolved into an unincorporated community under the jurisdiction of the rural municipality of Reno on that date.[6]

Canada census – Robsart, Saskatchewan community profile
2016 2011 2006
Population: 20 (+100.0% from 2011) 10 (-37.5% from 2006) 16 (-20% from 2001)
Land area: 7.91 km2 (3.05 sq mi) 7.91 km2 (3.05 sq mi) 7.91 km2 (3.05 sq mi)
Population density: 11.7/km2 (30/sq mi) 5.8/km2 (15/sq mi) 2.0/km2 (5.2/sq mi)
Median age:
Total private dwellings: 4 8 10
Median household income:
References: 2016[7] 2011[8] 2006[9] earlier[10]

Infrastructure
  • Great Western Railway, a Canadian short line railway company operating on former Canadian Pacific Railway trackage in southwest Saskatchewan.[11][12]
  • Red Coat Trail is a 1,300 kilometres (810 mi) historical route that approximates the path taken in 1874 by the North-West Mounted Police in their quest to bring law and order to the Canadian West.

History
Canadian Pacific Railway Station after completion 1914
CPR station and business core 1914
Installation of wood sidewalks 1915

In 1910, Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) purchased a quarter section of land in the southwest region of Saskatchewan and called it Robsart. The land was named after Amy Robsart, from the Sir Walter Scott book, Kenilworth. Three years later the land was bought by a man named Henry Abbott, who led the first settlers to the new community. Shortly after the settlers arrived, many businesses started to go up quickly. Two of the first businesses were a general store and feed mill, and soon following them were 30 other businesses, including a dentist, jeweller, and a surgeon.

Boom years

When the CPR was finished the construction of the Stirling-Weyburn line, this caused a boom bringing in even more prosperity for the small community. Almost weekly new businesses were opening, bringing new hotels, cafés, churches, livery barns, a school, banks, grain elevators, and its own public hospital which opened its doors in 1917 and still stands today. Ten years after the town of Robsart was established it had a population of 350 residents, its own town hall, mayor, town council, and around more than 50 businesses. The town was so prosperous that one postcard with a picture of Robsart bore the ironic motto “A town with a bright future.”

Great Depression
The former Robsart Public Hospital opened in 1918 and closed in the late 1930s.
One of the remaining abandoned storefronts, from the once prosperous business section

In the late 1920s, Robsart's prosperous beginnings began a long decline. Starting with a grain elevator fire in 1929, one year later another blaze wiped out a large section of the business core. Next was the Great Depression, accompanying droughts, falling grain prices and poor crop yields, which caused further business closures in the once industrious business core. Many merchants were hit hard by crippling financial losses and had to leave in search for a better way of life. Since the beginning of the Great Depression the community has struggled but never with the same early pioneer optimism.

The Robsart Community Hall renovated in the 1980s by local residents and farmers now sits idle, used for special occasions.

In the 1980s, locals and nearby farmers rallied together and renovated the old community hall in hopes of reviving the once thriving town, but one by one most remaining businesses and homes were boarded up, including Robsart's Saskatchewan Wheat Pool and Pioneer elevators which were demolished in 2000. Both had played a crucial role in the community over the years. Finally on January 1, 2002, due to dwindling population, the village of Robsart was dissolved, and is now governed by the Rural municipality of Reno No. 51.

Our Side of The Hills: community book

In the early 1990s, former and current residents of Robsart got together and made a community history book; Our Side of The Hills.[13] Former mayor and resident Archie Smiley submitted a revised version of an old poem called "Ode to Robsart".[14]

Attractions

Local attractions/sites of interest:

  • Robsart Art Works, open July 1 to August 28, 2010 from 1 to 4 p.m. and by appointment, features Saskatchewan artists featuring photographers of old buildings and towns throughout Saskatchewan.[15]
  • Beaver lumber Co. Ltd., one of the last remaining original storefronts along Main Street.
  • Robsart Hospital, a former community hospital opened in 1918 which still stands today and is known as the only known pioneer hospital of its kind in Saskatchewan, if not Western Canada.
  • Robsart Community Hall, refinished in the 1980s by locals and farmers and still in use today for special occasions.
  • Robsart Community Curling Rink, no longer in use but still stands.
  • Vidora Cafe, a former cafe saved from demolition and moved from Vidora to Robsart. The cafe is one of few buildings that originate from Vidora. Only two other buildings still stand on Vidora's original town site, old foundations and wooden sidewalks can still be seen when walking the streets of the former town site.

Regional attractions:

Notable people
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See also

References
  1. Reno No. 51
  2. National Archives, Archivia Net. "Post Offices and Postmasters".
  3. Government of Saskatchewan, MRD Home. "Municipal Directory System". Archived from the original on November 21, 2008.
  4. Canadian Textiles Institute. (2005). "CTI Determine your provincial constituency". Archived from the original on 2007-09-11.
  5. Commissioner of Canada Elections, Chief Electoral Officer of Canada (2005). "Elections Canada On-line".
  6. "Restructured Villages". Saskatchewan Ministry of Municipal Affairs. Archived from the original on March 25, 2008. Retrieved 2008-02-10.
  7. "2016 Community Profiles". 2016 Canadian Census. Statistics Canada. February 21, 2017. Retrieved 2017-03-15.
  8. "2011 Community Profiles". 2011 Canadian Census. Statistics Canada. July 5, 2013. Retrieved 2012-10-14.
  9. "2006 Community Profiles". 2006 Canadian Census. Statistics Canada. March 30, 2011. Retrieved 2011-02-20.
  10. "2001 Community Profiles". 2001 Canadian Census. Statistics Canada. February 17, 2012.
  11. Great Western Railway
  12. Red Coat Road & Rail Ltd. - RCRR
  13. Our Side of The Hills - Reno History Book Association
  14. Johnnie Bachusky Saskatchewan Ghost towns Retrieved on 2008-12-23.
  15. Robsart Art Works Archived 2013-06-20 at the Wayback Machine
  16. Cypress Hills Vineyard & Winery
  17. T.rex Discovery Centre

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