Turtleford

Turtleford
Turtleford
Town
	Turtleford Location of Turtleford in Saskatchewan Turtleford Turtleford (Canada)
	Coordinates: 53°23′N 108°57′W / 53.383°N 108.950°W
Country	Canada
Province	Saskatchewan
Rural Municipalities (R.M.)	Mervin No. 499
Post office Founded	1913-12-01
Town	July 1, 1983
Government
• Mayor	Olson, Roland (2012)
• M.L.A. of Cut Knife-Turtleford	Larry Doke
• MP of Battlefords—Lloydminster	Rosemarie Falk
Area
• Total	1.69 km2 (0.65 sq mi)
Population (2011)
• Total	525
• Density	311.6/km2 (807/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC−6 (Central Standard Time)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−5
Postal code	S0M 2Y0
Highways	Highway 26 / Highway 3 / Highway 301
Website	Official Website

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.^[5] "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.^[6]

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.^[7] 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.^[8]^[9] By 1915 dozens of businesses had opened and Turtleford became a major centre for the area population.^[7]

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.^[10] 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.^[9]^[10] 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 503 living in 213 of its 228 total private dwellings, a change of 1.4% from its 2016 population of 496. With a land area of 1.66 km² (0.64 sq mi), it had a population density of 303.0/km² (784.8/sq mi) in 2021.^[11]

Canada census – Turtleford community profile

	2011
Population	525 (+13.9% from 2006)
Land area	1.69 km² (0.65 sq mi)
Population density	311.6/km² (807/sq mi)
Median age	40.9 (M: 36.5, F: 43.0)
Private dwellings	227 (total)
Median household income

References: 2011^[12]

Education

Turtleford (Turtleford Community School) belongs to Turtleford School Division #65 a part of Northwest School Division.^[13]^[14]^[15] Turtleford is served by Lakeland Library Region — Turtleford Branch^[16]

Media

Turtleford is served by The Northwest News weekly newspaper^{[citation needed]}

Notable people

Eric B. Rosendahl, Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta for West Yellowhead, May 5, 2015 – March 19, 2019

References

^ National Archives, Archivia Net, Post Offices and Postmasters, archived from the original on October 6, 2006, retrieved May 26, 2007
^ Government of Saskatchewan, MRD Home. "Municipal Directory System". Archived from the original on January 15, 2016. Retrieved September 6, 2009.
^ Canadian Textiles Institute (2005), CTI Determine your provincial constituency, archived from the original on September 11, 2007, retrieved May 26, 2007
^ Commissioner of Canada Elections, Chief Electoral Officer of Canada (2005), Elections Canada On-line, archived from the original on April 21, 2007, retrieved April 24, 2007
^ LARGE CANADIAN ROADSIDE ATTRACTIONS, Ed Solonyka (1998–2006), Ernie - Canada's Largest Turtle Turtleford, Saskatchewan
^ Sprague's Pipit
^ ^a ^b CANADIAN PLAINS RESEARCH CENTER, UNIVERSITY OF REGINA (2006), The Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan (Turtleford), archived from the original on May 27, 2013, retrieved May 27, 2007
^ Russell, Edmund T. (1973), What's In a Name: The Story Behind Saskatchewan Place Names (3rd edition), Saskatoon, Saskatchewan: Western Producer Prairie Books, p. 200, ISBN 0-88833-053-7
^ ^a ^b Waghorn's Guide (1914). "Map of Western Canada showing part of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta". Stovel Co. Ltd. Retrieved June 24, 2015.
^ ^a ^b Troy A. M. Zimmer (September 14, 2008). "Abandoned Rail Lines in Saskatchewan" (PDF). Saskatchewan Trails Association. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 24, 2014. Retrieved June 24, 2015.
^ "Population and dwelling counts: Canada, provinces and territories, census divisions and census subdivisions (municipalities), Saskatchewan". Statistics Canada. February 9, 2022. Retrieved April 1, 2022.
^ "2011 Community Profiles". 2011 Canadian census. Statistics Canada. March 21, 2019. Retrieved June 21, 2013.
^ GrassRoots - Project Gallery Search Results, retrieved May 27, 2007^{[permanent dead link‍]}
^ Turtleford Community School, archived from the original on April 22, 2007, retrieved May 27, 2007
^ NWSD, retrieved May 27, 2007
^ Libdex - the library index, Lakeland Library Region - Turtleford Branch, archived from the original on August 16, 2004, retrieved May 27, 2007