History of the Village of Bulyea
Settlement in the Bulyea area dates to 1882-83 when people from Scotland, England and Ireland arrived, later people of German and Norwegian descent settled in the nearby districts.1 Bulyea received rail service in 1905 when the CPR line from Lipton to Strasbourg was completed. This brought in new settlers and by 1908 the village had several businesses and three grain elevators. In 1911 the rail line from Regina to Bulyea was completed.
Bulyea 1905
Bulyea 1908
Bulyea Elevators 1910
First train to arrive in Bulyea from Regina c.1911
The Village of Bulyea was incorporated in 1909 and named after George Hedley Vicars Bulyea. George H.V. Bulyea was born in Gagetown, Queen’s County, New Brunswick in 1859. He moved west in 1892 spending a year in Winnipeg. In 1893 he moved to Qu’Appelle and was elected to the North-West Territories Assembly (which included present day Alberta, Saskatchewan and Yukon) in 1894. In 1905 George H.V. Bulyea was appointed Lieutenant Governor of Alberta by Governor General Lord Earl Grey.2
On July 1, 1925, Pool Elevator No.1 was opened in Bulyea. Pool delegate P.B. Thompson delivered the first load, fifty-seven bushels of No. 2 wheat for which he received a voucher for $65.55.3 The elevator had a capacity of 30,000 bushels held in 21 bins. The elevator operated until 1968 when a new grain elevator was constructed and the original structure was used as a storage annex. The Bulyea elevator closed in 2000.
http://www.prairie-towns.com/bulyea-images.html
1. McLennan, David. Our Towns: Saskatchewan Communities from Abbey to Zenon Park. Regina: Canadian Plains Research Centre, 2008 2. Alberta Online Encyclopedia: People and Politics. Heritage Community Foundation. http://www.abheritage.ca/abpolitics/people/lt_bulyea.html 3. Fairbairn, Garry. From Prairie Roots: The Remarkable Story of Saskatchewan Wheat Pool, Saskatoon: Western Producer Prairie Books, 1984
Elevator No.1 (Saskatchewan Archives Board R-A 15202)