The settlement of the Pense district began in 1881, before the arrival of the C.P.R. (Canadian Pacific Railway) in Saskatchewan. Early settlers gravitated towards coulees and areas with accessible well water. The scarcity of wood for fuel also led people to settle closer to the Qu'Appelle Valley. It wasn’t until after 1900 that the more challenging lands near Pense were settled. Consequently, settlement can be divided into two periods: those who homesteaded before 1900, enduring the difficulties of earlier days, and those who arrived around the turn of the century, when goods were shipped by rail to Pense. The Village of Pense was incorporated on March 4, 1904. The original Town Hall, located on the current site, was destroyed by fire in March 1915 but was rebuilt on the same location later that year. By the 1950s, the village boasted four grain elevators, with the last one being demolished in 2021 following severe windstorm damage. These elevators handled an average of 500,000 bushels of grain in the 1950s. Pense celebrated its 50th anniversary in 1954 with all-day jubilee events and a community parade. The old brick school, needing repairs, was replaced by the current school, which was built on a new site purchased in 1958.
The following photos from the 1950s, likely taken on a Monday (a common washing day), show laundry hanging in many yards. The original Pense Memorial Rink, built entirely by volunteers and funded by donations, opened in the winter of 1962 and has since been a point of pride for the community.
In 1964, exactly 60 years after its incorporation, Pense residents enjoyed their first municipal water service, having previously relied on hauled water. On October 5, 1965, at 2:00 p.m., SaskTel transitioned to the new direct dial telephone system, replacing the old manual operator system.

Type of Data Point - Website/Blog Post

History - Town of Pense

Visit page of City/Town - Pense

Inserted: 09-09-2024 18:09:38