History
Herschel was founded by German Canadians and settled mainly by Mennonites. The village was named in honor of 19th Century English physicist and astronomer Sir John Fredrick William Herschel.
In 1935, a major fire destroyed 18 homes and businesses in Herschel. The blaze destroyed three general stores, the post office, a harness shop, the drug store, a pool hall, the Royal Hotel, a Chinese laundry, a hardware store, the municipal office, a restaurant, homes and other structures. Poor local roads were blamed for the extent of the blaze, with fire engines from Rosetown unable to reach the community for more than four hours.
In 2005, fossils of a plesiosaur were discovered in a coal mine ravine southwest of Herschel, and now, along with native petroglyphs attracts visitors from around the world. The fossils were described as a new species, Dolichorhynchops herschelensis.
Read more about this topic: Herschel, Saskatchewan
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“Properly speaking, history is nothing but the crimes and misfortunes of the human race.”
—Pierre Bayle (1647–1706)
“Boys forget what their country means by just reading “the land of the free” in history books. Then they get to be men, they forget even more. Liberty’s too precious a thing to be buried in books.”
—Sidney Buchman (1902–1975)
“The custard is setting; meanwhile
I not only have my own history to worry about
But am forced to fret over insufficient details related to large
Unfinished concepts that can never bring themselves to the point
Of being, with or without my help, if any were forthcoming.”
—John Ashbery (b. 1927)