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Estevan

Estevan, Saskatchewan, Canada

  • Estevan is located in the SE corner of Saskatchewan, on Highway 39.
  • Estevan started in 1892, as a tent town.
  • Aug 1892 Article shows the town plots are being laid out
  • Surveyed in 1892 by George Murray. When he surveyed the Townsite,
    The sod shack of Arthur Kelly was the only visible building.
  • The Territorial Government of the Northwest Territories Incorporated Estevan as a Village, November 2, 1899.
  • Estevan was proclaimed a Town on March 1, 1906.
  • shown as The Black Diamond City in 1912.
  • Then finally Incorporated as a City, March 1, 1957
  • In 2011 it was the 8th largest City in Saskatchewan.
  • Population is approx 11,000.


  • Alt= 1863 ft. +1in (At the Geodetic Survey Bench Mark in Churchill Park, overlooking the Valley)
  • Latitude= 49° 08' 21“ N, Longitude= 102° 59' 10” W From Natural Resources Canada
  • Airport code- YEN


Census Trivia:

  • Population in 1900= 100
  • Population in Dec 1904= 700
  • Census 2006= 10,084
  • Land Area= 17.56 km² (6.78 sq mi)
  • Total Private Dwellings= 4,455
  • Section 27, 26, west 1/2 of 25
  • Section 22,23, west 1/2 of 24
  • all in Township 2, Range 8, West of the 2nd Meridian


History of the Name

Estevan was known as the “Sunshine Capital of Canada” receiving 2,536 hrs of sun per year, an average of 7 hrs/day. It is now known as “The Energy City”.

Estevan was named after George Stephen's Registered Telegraphic Address “Estevan”. Estevan is Spanish for Stephen. He signed all his telegrams “Estevan” and telegrams sent to him were addressed to “Estevan” as early as 1893.

George Stephen
  • Stephen was the First President of the CPR from 1880-1888.
  • 1st Baron Mount Stephen
  • Born at Forres, (Dufftown?) Banffshire, Scotland, June 5,1829,
  • He was the son of a Carpenter, William Stephen, and his wife Elspet Smith.
  • Came to Canada at the age of 21, in 1850, to Montreal.
  • Married twice:
    • -Lady Charlotte Stephen, nee Kane in 1853, (She died in 1896)
    • -Lady Gian Stephen, nee Tufnell in 1897.
      • Daughter of Robert George Tufnell
  • In 1880 he built a fishing camp at La Fourche, Causapscal, at the confluence of the Matapedia and the Cascapedia rivers.
  • His salmon fishing lodge, now known as “Matamajaw”, is a museum open to the public.
  • In 1886 he acquired several properties at Grand-Metis.
  • His fishing camp, which he called Estevan Lodge, was completed in 1887.
  • Another place the Estevan name crops up.
  • He retired to England and He died at Brocket Hall, Welwyn Hatfield, in Hertfordshire, England, on November 29, 1921, age 92.
  • There is a Mountain in the Rockies named in 1886 after this man.



or is this interpretation above correct? Translated to “In The Van” or “Front Rank” Maybe this was the translation for his telegraph address. Fits a President of a Company like the CPR. but why Spanish? Why a Scotsman would use a Spanish translation is unknown to me, and history.


If you read the First Coal Mine in the area, Dominion Coal Company, web site, you will see the various names suggested, before “Estevan” was picked.


Aerial Postcard ca Early 1960's, Courtesy Grant Walker, CA
In the foreground is King St, in Hillside Subdivision, looking South
In the far distance smoke from the Boundary Dam Powerplant can be seen

Estevan Pages




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