Saskatchewan Western Development Museum

Saskatchewan Western Development Museum
Saskatoon branch of the Western Development Museum
Established	April 2, 1949
Location	Moose Jaw, North Battleford, Saskatoon and Yorkton.
Type	Human History
Website	www.wdm.ca

The Saskatchewan Western Development Museum is a network of four museums in Saskatchewan, Canada preserving and recording the social and economic development of the province. The museum has branches in Moose Jaw, North Battleford, Saskatoon and Yorkton. Respectively, each branch focuses on a different theme: transportation, agriculture, economy, and people. The Museum is affiliated with the Canadian Museums Association, the Canadian Heritage Information Network, and Virtual Museum of Canada.

Moose Jaw - History of Transportation

Avro Anson bomber trainer

Funk Model B85C light aircraft

The Moose Jaw location of the museum is dedicated to all facets of transportation. The museum has its own shortline narrow gauge railway outdoors on the property. This branch offers a specific focus on aviation, which is appropriate given its proximity to CFB Moose Jaw.

The aviation exhibits include a dedicated Snowbirds aerobatic team display. The aircraft collection includes such exhibits as an American Aerolights Eagle ultralight, an Avro Anson bomber trainer, Canadair CT-114 Tutor in Snowbirds markings, Canadair T-33A Silver Star, Fairchild M63A3 Cornell, and a Canadair T-33 ejection seat.

North Battleford - Heritage Farm & Village

North Battleford's Heritage Farm & Village WDM invites you to experience both farm and village aspects of pioneer life. The large barn is alive with farm animals and Museum visitors can see how the farmer of the 1920s tilled his fields and planted and harvested his crop. A trip to town does not entail a lengthy wagon ride, as it is only as far away as a walk along the boardwalk. Imagine delivering a load of grain to the elevator, or the train whistle tooting as the engine approaches the station. Visit the Co-op store, one of the many churches, a home or a business. Come and enjoy both farm and village life. See how the Saskatchewan spirit coped with the hardships of prairie life.

Saskatoon - 1910 Boomtown

The Saskatoon branch of the WDM was originally located on 11th Street on the city's west side, where it hosted an annual festival called "Pion-Era". The Saskatoon WDM relocated to its current site on the Prairieland Park grounds in the early 1970s. For many years the Saskatoon branch was associated with the Saskatoon Exhibition and was instrumental in the fair being renamed "Pioneer Days", which incorporated Pion-Era. By the 1980s, the WDM and the Exhibition began to distance themselves from each other and by the 1990s the WDM was no longer a part of the exhibition, which in turn all but eliminated any remaining Pion-Era elements; Pioneer Days became "The Ex" and, later, simply "Saskatoon Exhibition". The Saskatoon WDM is noted for its indoor recreation of a 1910-era "boomtown". Actual buildings from the era, combined with recreations, are kept in a climate-controlled environment and filled with artifacts of the time. Buildings on site include a homestead, a police station, a bank, a newspaper office (with working printing press), a saddle shop, a general store, and a dentist's office, to name a few. The museum also includes displays of vintage automobiles and farm equipment. The Saskatoon branch also has convention facilities and is home to the Saskatchewan Agricultural Hall of Fame. In 2005, the Saskatoon WDM underwent major renovations to its exhibit halls in celebration of Saskatchewan's centennial.

Yorkton - Story of People

The Yorkton Western Development Museum has recreated the times and styles of some of the many immigrants who settled in Western Canada, For it was here that sons and daughters from more than fifty cultural backgrounds around the world left their ancestral soil to take up residence in this new and often frightening land. Depicted at the Yorkton Branch are scenes which illustrate the cultural roots of many of these new peoples - Ukrainians, English, Swedes, Germans, Doukhobors and Icelanders - to name only a few. You can almost imagine yourself in the past as you view a Ukrainian home complete with white washed walls and clay oven; or a bedroom displaying the ornate woodwork that was the trademark of early 20th century craftsmen. Each scene is alive and tells its own story.

Major Artifacts

Partial List

• The Western Development Museum has the last remaining example of the Ferranti-Packard 6000, a Canadian designed early mainframe computer. Donated by SaskPower.

Images

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  Grain and fertilizer drill

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  Western development museum

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  Horse Drawn Scraper

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  Horse drawn machinery

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  Rock Picker

See also

Saskatchewan Railway Museum

External links

• Saskatchewan Western Development Museum website