| The question is often asked as to why
Lloydminster was established in the middle of the wide open prairie and
not along a river or lake as had older communities. The answer is
summed up in one word - railways.
The town site of Lloydminster was laid out in anticipation of the
arrival of the Canadian Northern Railway, the right of way already having
been surveyed.
The railway was two years late arriving and in 1905 when it did arrive
there were some shenanigans when Canadian Northern announced that the
station would be located almost two miles west.
Rev. Lloyd and others rose up in indignation and the station was moved
to the northwest corner of the town site - a location which proved to be
so close to the border that the station was in Alberta but part of the
platform was in Saskatchewan.
In the postcard below, the label says, Lloydminster, Saskatchewan but
everything except the two cream cans on the left of the platform is in
Alberta.
The picture below is of the new Canadian Pacific Railway Stationhouse,
built when that railway arrived in 1927. It was a fine example of
the architecture of its kind. Note the "widows walk" on
the second floor.
Photos courtesy of the Doug Aston Collection
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