Shellbrook

Town, pop 1,276, located 44 km W of Prince Albert and served by Hwys 3, 40, and 55. Settlers began arriving in the area in the late 1800s and, in 1894, a post office named after the Shell Brook was established. The Shell Brook (more of a river) passes just to the north of the present community, flowing east to the Sturgeon River, which in turn flows into the North Saskatchewan west of Prince Albert. The community is situated near the northern edge of agricultural settlement in the province and as the early settlers arrived the land had to be cleared of the jack pine forests before crops could be planted. The trees, however, provided an early cash crop and logs were rafted into Prince Albert where many were converted into railway ties. Larger numbers of settlers began to arrive in the district in the early 1900s, with significant representation from people of British and Scandinavian origins. In 1910, the Canadian Northern Railway reached Shellbrook from Prince Albert and the community developed as a service centre for the surrounding agricultural region. Today, approximately 50 businesses provide a wide range of goods, services, and professional expertise. The town has a library, and a museum located in the former Canadian Northern Railway station built in 1909. The town’s golf course is rated as one of the finest in the province. Additionally, Prince Albert National Park is just a short drive north of the community and there are seven regional parks and numerous lakes in the district, accommodating fishing, swimming, boating and camping. One of Canada’s most respected writers, James Sinclair Ross, was born in the Wild Rose school district just northeast of Shellbrook in 1908.

David McLennan