Langenburg

Town, pop 1,107, located 15 km inside the Saskatchewan-Manitoba border at the junction of Hwys 8 and 16. Yorkton, 70 km northwest, is the nearest city. The Langenburg area began to be settled in the mid-1880s by people who were predominantly of German origin and was named after Prince Hohenlohe-Langenburg, who had visited southeast Saskatchewan in 1883 and recommended the area for German settlement. In 1888 the Manitoba and Northwestern Railway was running trains into the fledgling hamlet, and by the turn of the century Langenburg had developed into a thriving agricultural community. The discovery of potash south of the community in the late 1950s brought about a period of unprecedented growth and prosperity, and Langenburg’s population doubled between 1966 and 1976, growing from 668 to 1,269. Today, the community has a comprehensive array of businesses and services: Health Care and recreational facilities; fire, ambulatory, and police services; and two schools, which provide K–12 Education to approximately 330 students.

David McLennan