Midale

Town, pop 496, located roughly midway between Weyburn and Estevan on Hwy 39. Many who first settled the Midale district were of Norwegian and Swedish origin and came from the states of Minnesota and Iowa. In 1907, Midale was incorporated as a village. With the opening of the Canadian Northern Railway line between Lampman and Radville in 1911, Midale became a junction for passengers and goods transferred between the railroads. Abandonment of the east-west line in the early 1950s was hastened by flood waters of the Souris River, which had undermined the integrity of much of the track. The discovery of oil in the Midale area in 1953 not only diversified the economy, which had been solely based upon agriculture, but also led to a doubling of the village population. Although the population subsequently levelled off, the oil industry has come to be the predominant contributor to the economy; today, pumpjacks dot the landscape. Agriculture continues to include grain and cattle production. Midale shares the distinction with the town of Yellow Grass as having had the highest temperature—45°C (113°F) on July 5, 1937—ever recorded in Canada. Notable personalities from the Midale area are Ken and Brad Johner. The multi-award winning performers were voted “Entertainers of the Decade” by the Saskatchewan Country Music Association in the 1990s.

David McLennan