Whitewood began as a crossing of trails between the Qu'Appelle Valley to the north and the Moose Mountains to the south. A Hudson's Bay Company trading post operated there from about 1891 until around 1906. When the Canadian Pacific Railway came through, the community grew quickly. By 1882 it was a major stop on the line, and the CPR named it for the white poplar, a white-barked tree plentiful in the area. Whitewood was incorporated as a town on 30 December 1892, though the town seal says 1893.
Settlers came from many lands, including Finland, Hungary, Sweden, Germany, Poland, Russia, Bohemia, England, Scotland and Ireland. New Finland, the first Finnish settlement in the west, is nearby. Local writer John Hawkes recalled that in the 1880s one needed eleven languages to do business in Whitewood.
One of the most remarkable groups was the French and Belgian aristocrats, the Counts of St. Hubert, led by Dr. Rudolph Meyer. They hoped to live on the prairies in the style of European nobility and held an annual Frenchman's Ball at the Whitewood Commercial Hotel. Remains of their settlement still exist, and the town's Merchant Bank Heritage Centre celebrates the story of "the Most Romantic Settlement in the West."
Today Whitewood is also known for curling. Its Farmers and Friends Bonspiel each March is one of Canada's largest held in one facility, the town has twice hosted the provincial Tankard, and the World's Largest Curling Broom stands at the Flag Garden off Highway 1.
Written from Wikipedia’s article “Whitewood, Saskatchewan” (CC BY-SA 4.0), and shared under the same licence.