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Melfort - Sakatchewan
 Photo © Nelson Ryan, Nelson Grafic Design



Tower Information(05-2006)
Location:
Signage: Melfort
Built: 1910/192?
Photo credit: Nelson Grafic Design


Missing data:
Please contact us if you have more information

The tower was purchased from the Prince Albert Penitentiary in 1927. Dismantled, moved 100 km along Hwy 3 to melfort and assembled in 1928.

It was in service from 1929 until sometime in the 1970s. The city was going to tear it down in 1991 but a group of citizens formed a committee, raised funds to have it painted, shored up et., and it was saved



More tower information supplied by Correctional Service of Canada
"It is thought that the water tower was constructed in 1919/1920 while the Prince Albert Penitentiary was being built. It is quite a piece of woodworking as well as history, being constructed entirely of wood - with large pieces having to be steamed to fit the curve of the tank portion. Probably would have been made on site here by some carpenters who really knew the trade well to to that bending and make it waterproof"
Area information
The current city of Melfort was preceded by a small community known as the Stoney Creek Settlement, started by founding settler Reginald Beatty, a Hudson Bay Company employee who settled with his family in the new North West. The community 'Melfort' was named after a town in Argylshire, Scotland. 
Melfort was officially incorporated as a village in 1903. The promised rail reached the community in 1904, facilitating steady population growth. According to a census taken July 21, 1906, Melfort at the time was home to 448 residents.  By 1907, Melfort's population was of sufficient number to justify its official incorporation as a town, which occurred on July 1 of that year, and became Saskatchewan's 12th city on September 2nd, 1980.
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