Nutana - History

History

The first permanent settlement was established by the Temperance Colonization Society, a group of Toronto Methodists, under John Neilson Lake. The group moved into the area in 1883, a year after Lake and a scouting party had looked for a suitable colony site. The site chosen by Lake was on the suggestion of Chief Whitecap of the Dakota tribe. The settlement, named Saskatoon, was officially settled on August 18, 1883. The name is thought to be derived from the Cree word "missaskwatoomina", referring to the saskatoon berry shrubs that grew along the riverbank. By 1884, ferry service across the river began, making Saskatoon the crossing point for the busy Regina - Battleford Trail. It brought more commercial traffic and business, as well as more settlers to the region. The first post office was established October 1, 1884, with J. H. C. Willoughby as the first postmaster. By 1886, there were 29 homes constructed, and the community boasted a variety of professionals and tradesmen.

Still, the planned temperance colony failed for several reasons: the group was not able to obtain a contiguous block of land; the river was too shallow to ferry supplies and settlers; the nearest railway was 150 miles (240 km) away in Moose Jaw; land routes were small, often unmarked trails; and fears of native hostility from the 1885 North-West Rebellion dampened enthusiasm from potential settlers. Without a rail link and enduring years of drought from 1885–1890, the economy consisted of little but subsistence farming. The first agricultural fair, later to become the Saskatoon Exhibition, was held on October 13, 1886, at the "Louise Grounds" (now Nutana Collegiate's schoolyard). The exhibition was staged there until 1903, when it was moved to the City Park neighbourhood and later the city's exhibition grounds further south.

The original Victoria School was built in 1888 by stonemason Alexander (Sandy) Marr as the first school house of the temperance colony. Located at the Five Corners crossing at Broadway Avenue and 12th Street, the school yard would eventually be home to three school buildings as the population grew, the last of which being the present-day École Victoria School. The first Victoria School was dismantled and reassembled on a site at the University of Saskatchewan campus in 1911. The building is often referred to as the Little Stone Schoolhouse.

When the Qu'Appelle, Long Lake and Saskatchewan Railway reached Saskatoon in 1890 and crossed the South Saskatchewan River, a settlement on the west bank of the river (Saskatoon's future downtown) was established, saving the existing settlement from extinction. The area now had railway links to both Regina and Prince Albert; however, the commercial center shifted across to the west side of the river. Broadway Avenue remained the commercial and social center for the east bank. By 1901, the west bank's population had reached 113 and it incorporated as the Village of Saskatoon. Stripped of its original name, the east bank settlement renamed itself "Nutana", a scrambled inversion of "Saskatoon". It incorporated as a town on October 3, 1903, as Saskatoon had done earlier that year on July 1.

A heavy influx of people into the area over the next three years put a strain on the two new towns, as well as the new neighbouring village of Riversdale. Despite the advantages of amalgamating into a single settlement, Nutana's residents demanded that a traffic bridge be built to link the two sides of the river. Up to then, the only way across the river was an unreliable ferry, or a difficult and sometimes dangerous walk across the railway bridge. In 1906. the provincial government committed to building a bridge, and Nutana ratepayers came onside. A city charter was drawn up, and Nutana merged with the town Saskatoon and the village of Riversdale to become the city of Saskatoon on July 1, 1906. The following year on October 10, 1907, the promised bridge was opened and called the Traffic Bridge. In the following decades, three more traffic bridges would link Nutana to the downtown: University Bridge (1916), Broadway Bridge (1932), and the Idylwyld Bridge (1966), which replaced the original CN railway bridge.

The period between 1910 and 1912 were particularly prosperous for Saskatoon, and many of Nutana's landmark buildings were built in this time. The economic boom turned to bust by 1913, just prior to World War I, but rebounded during the Roaring Twenties. The Great Depression saw another economic downturn, followed by another period of prosperity after World War II. However, by the end of 1950s, the advent of newer subdivisions, chain stores and shopping malls drew commercial activity away from the traditional businesses in Nutana. Home construction also slowed during this period. The neighbourhood went into decline for several decades, as exemplified by the Broadway Theatre becoming an "adult" movie theatre. In the mid-1980s, Broadway merchants and community groups began to organize in an effort to turn the area's fortunes around. In 1984, the Broadway Theatre was turned into repertory movie house and live performance venue. With the establishment of the Broadway Business Improvement District in 1986, a revitilization program was launched to refurbish the streetscape and reintroduce the area's historic identity. These events spurred a period of gentrification in Nutana; today, Broadway Avenue is again an active commercial district and the Nutana area is again considered desirable.