Saskatchewan Western Development Museum - Saskatoon - 1910 Boomtown

1910 Boomtown

The Saskatoon branch of the WDM was originally located on 11th Street on the city's west side, where it hosted an annual festival called "Pion-Era". The Saskatoon WDM relocated to its current site on the Prairieland Park grounds in the early 1970s. For many years the Saskatoon branch was associated with the Saskatoon Exhibition and was instrumental in the fair being renamed "Pioneer Days", which incorporated Pion-Era. By the 1980s, the WDM and the Exhibition began to distance themselves from each other and by the 1990s the WDM was no longer a part of the exhibition, which in turn all but eliminated any remaining Pion-Era elements; Pioneer Days became "The Ex" and, later, simply "Saskatoon Exhibition". The Saskatoon WDM is noted for its indoor recreation of a 1910-era "boomtown". Actual buildings from the era, combined with recreations, are kept in a climate-controlled environment and filled with artifacts of the time. Buildings on site include a homestead, a police station, a bank, a newspaper office (with working printing press), a saddle shop, a general store, and a dentist's office, to name a few. The museum also includes displays of vintage automobiles and farm equipment. The Saskatoon branch also has convention facilities and is home to the Saskatchewan Agricultural Hall of Fame. In 2005, the Saskatoon WDM underwent major renovations to its exhibit halls in celebration of Saskatchewan's centennial.