Hudson Bay (Sask)

Hudson Bay, Sask, incorporated as a town in 1946, population 1477 (2011c), 1646 (2006c). The Town of Hudson Bay is 209 km north of Yorkton. Established (1906) as a siding for logging interests by the Canadian Northern Railway on a line laid earlier (1901) through the Porcupine and Pasquia forest reserves, it was called Etoimami, a Native word describing a nearby point where 3 rivers join. When the CNR built from the village to THE PAS (1908) as the first phase of the HUDSON BAY RAILWAY, Etoimami became Hudson Bay Junction. In the 1920s, agriculture was added to forestry and the railway when federal authorities opened parts of surrounding forest reserves to settlement by returned soldiers and later by civilians. Additional settlement occurred when people moved north to escape the drought of the 1930s.

By the end of WWII the community had grown sufficiently to obtain town status, a fact emphasized by dropping "Junction" from its name (1947). Since then, while growth has continued, the economy has been modified. The railway has reduced its work force, but the agricultural sector and especially forestry, Hudson Bay's mainstay, have become more sophisticated. Since 1960, 3 mills (2 remain) manufacturing various wood products and an alfalfa dehydration plant have arisen.