Melville Railway Station, Melville, Saskatchewan

The Grand Trunk Pacific Railway (GTPR) built the Melville Railway Station in 1908, during a period of expansion and competition among railway companies. Named after GTPR president Charles Melville Hays, this station was a major divisional point on the GTPR’s transcontinental line and for it, the company chose a large, “special” design. The railway and this station laid the foundations for the city, shaped its early development, and helped the prairie agricultural economy to flourish by facilitating the transport of people and grain.

From 1900 to 1914, railways in western Canada expanded rapidly, with two new rail companies (Canadian Northern Railway Company and GTPR) challenging the Canadian Pacific Railway’s monopoly in the west. The GTPR main line, completed in 1914, ran from Winnipeg through Melville and Edmonton to Prince Rupert, British Columbia. Melville was an important junction point on the line, connecting in the south to Regina and the United States border, and in the north to Churchill, Manitoba.

The GTPR purchased and laid out the Melville townsite. Typical of many GTPR-designed prairie towns, Melville extended north from the railway tracks, which formed a distinct boundary at its southern edge. When building stations, the GTPR typically relied on a small number of standardized station plans. For Melville, a major station on the line, the company chose a more distinctive design: a rectangular two-storey wooden structure, featuring twin gables, a high hipped roof, and dormers. It housed offices for the superintendent, divisional engineer, and other railway officials. The building’s design, unique in Saskatchewan and the only one of its kind in Canada, illustrates the quality of the GTPR’s building program along its main line. Living quarters were constructed nearby, as were a section house, roundhouse, stockyard, freight house, and other railway facilities. Many of these components of the original setting remain today.

Today, the GTPR’s transcontinental line is part of the Canadian National Railway (CNR) system, and the railway continues to be a major employer in the City of Melville. The historic railway station, which remains a focal point in the city, is owned by the Melville Rail Station Heritage Association Inc., and is located at the heart of the community.

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