Baljennie is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...

, Canada. Its first post office opened in 1891.

History

Baljennie was named by an early resident, Stephen ('Sandy') Warden, after his daughter Jean, and was originally spelt Baljeanie.''Saskatchewan History'', vol I, 1 (1948), 28. Warden, a former officer of the

North-West Mounted Police The North-West Mounted Police (NWMP) was a Canadian paramilitary police force, established in 1873, to maintain order in the new Canadian North-West Territories (NWT) following the 1870 transfer of Rupert's Land and North-Western Territory to ...

, had established a ranch in the area in the early 1880s, which subsequently became a staging post for mail coaches travelling between

Saskatoon Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Hig ...

and

Battleford Battleford ( 2021 population 4,400) is a town located across the North Saskatchewan River from the city of North Battleford, in Saskatchewan, Canada. Battleford and North Battleford are collectively referred to as "The Battlefords". Although ...

. A school was opened at Baljennie in August 1912.School's centennial celebrated
''Battleford News-Optimist'', 07-09-12 The

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway () , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadian Pacific Kansas City, Canadian Pacific Ka ...

extended its line northward from

Asquith Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith (12 September 1852 – 15 February 1928) was a British statesman and Liberal Party (UK), Liberal politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1908 to 1916. He was the last ...

to Baljennie in 1931. The line between Sonningdale and Baljennie was closed in June 1977.''Grain and Rail in Western Canada: Report of the Grain Handling and Transportation Commission'', 1977, p.442 Baljennie had a population of 76 at the time of the 1951 census,''Ninth Census of Canada'', "Population: unincorporated villages and hamlets", p.53 but declined in later years. The school was closed in 1970 and was turned into a community centre. The community's last business closed in 1991, and its derelict

Anglican church Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

was destroyed by fire three years later.New life for Saskatchewan hamlet
CBC News, 02-01-08 After several years during which Baljennie was effectively a

ghost town A ghost town, deserted city, extinct town, or abandoned city is an abandoned settlement, usually one that contains substantial visible remaining buildings and infrastructure such as roads. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economi ...

, a number of families moved to the town site from 2007 onwards.

Notable people

* Arthur James Bater, politician

Cultural references

In her 1976 song "

Coyote The coyote (''Canis latrans''), also known as the American jackal, prairie wolf, or brush wolf, is a species of canis, canine native to North America. It is smaller than its close relative, the Wolf, gray wolf, and slightly smaller than the c ...

", Canadian singer-songwriter

Joni Mitchell Roberta Joan Mitchell (née Anderson; born November 7, 1943) is a Canadian and American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and painter. As one of the most influential singer-songwriters to emerge from the 1960s folk music circuit, Mitch ...

, who grew up in Saskatoon, sings "I looked the coyote right in the face/On the road to Baljennie near my old hometown".

References

Ghost towns in Saskatchewan Glenside No. 377, Saskatchewan Unincorporated communities in Saskatchewan Division No. 12, Saskatchewan {{SKDivision12-geo-stub

History

Notable people

Cultural references

See also

References