Talk:West Bend, Saskatchewan

West Bend, Saskatchewan

The hamlet of West Bend, located approximately 12 miles southwest of Foam Lake, in the Foam Lake municipality #276, came into prominence from the mid 1930s into the 1950s as a service centre for the surrounding area. At its maximum, the hamlet housed approximately 33 families with a population between 70 and 75.

Three grain elevators, livestock corrals, five general stores, three garages, two bulk fuel dealers, post office (est 1929), hotel, shoe repair shop, pool room, town hall and a two room school serviced the area.

The name was derived from the railway track making a bend from the northeast to the west as it came into the hamlet.

In the late 1960s, as road conditions and vehicles improved, area residents started to venture to larger centres for buying and selling commodities.

The CPR discontinued the rail route through West Bend in the 1970s, causing the grain companies along the whole line to shut down, along with the stock yards and bulk fuel stations. In the 1980s, the local businesses consisted of two grocery stores, one garage, the hotel, post office and school. In the 1990s, these all either closed or burned down. In the 2000s, the Foam Lake fire department burned all the abandoned structures except for one garage, the town hall and the school which were privately owned. Bill Oshynko (talk) 15:29, 28 March 2023 (UTC)