There are several apocryphal versions of the story about how the town got its name. One is that in the late 1880s when the railway ran through from Regina to Prince Albert a man by the name of Ross drowned in the creek that flows through the town. Terne is old English for tarn meaning a pool, and the name stuck.[8] In all likelihood, however, the town's name echoes an old world name brought over by a homesick worker on the railroad, in this case that of Rostherne, a village in the United Kingdom.[9]
Attractions and recreation
Rosthern has a public library, many parks and walking trails, Valley Regional Park with an 18-hole grass green golf course, two ball-diamonds, two indoor hockey rinks, a curling rink, bowling alley, and three school gyms. An outdoor swimming pool was completed in 2005. Rosthern is also home to the Youth Farm Bible Camp.
Nearby Rosthern is the Seager Wheeler Farm, a National Historic Site of Canada, and the Rosthern Mennonite Heritage Museum (c. 1909–1910). It is a Municipal Heritage Property on the Canadian Register of Historic Places.[10]
Valley Regional Park
Valley Regional Park (52°41′00″N106°18′02″W / 52.6834°N 106.3006°W / 52.6834; -106.3006),[11] founded in 1974, is a regional park about 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) north-east of Rosthern on the western shore of Rempel Lake. The park has an 18-hole golf course, campground, and picnic area. There is also a 100-foot slide and an 80-foot zip line. The campground has about 80 campsites and modern washrooms and showers. Access to the park is from Highway 11.[12][13]
Valley Regional Park Golf Club is an 18-hole, par 72 course with grass greens and 6,577 total yards. There is a pro shop, practice green, and a licensed clubhouse.[14]
In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Rosthern had a population of 1,602 living in 642 of its 694 total private dwellings, a change of -5.1% from its 2016 population of 1,688. With a land area of 4.14 km2 (1.60 sq mi), it had a population density of 387.0/km2 (1,002.2/sq mi) in 2021.[15]
^Commissioner of Canada Elections, Chief Electoral Officer of Canada (2005), Elections Canada On-line, archived from the original on 21 April 2007, retrieved 2 August 2007
^Rosthern (Saskatchewan, Canada). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia.
^"Rosthern". Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan. Canadian Plains Research Center, University of Regina. 2006. Archived from the original on 18 April 2016. Retrieved 13 May 2016.
^Russell, E. T. (1975), What's in a Name?, Saskatoon, Sk: Western Producer Prairie Books, p. 276, ISBN1-894022-92-0
^Barry, Bill (2003), People Places Contemporary Saskatchewan Placenames, Regina, Canada: Print West communications, p. 230, ISBN1-894022-92-0