Girvin sits midway between Regina and Saskatoon on Highway 11, between Davidson and Craik. It was named for John Alexander Girvin, a Winnipeg contractor who built countless railway stations across the prairies. The Qu'Appelle, Long Lake, and Saskatchewan Railroad and Steamboat Company line came through in the 1890s, and settlers followed around 1902, mostly immigrants from Ontario.
A school and post office opened on April 1, 1905, and soon the community had a restaurant, veterinarian, Massey-Harris dealership, lumber yard, butcher, bank, livery, blacksmith and a three-storey hotel. Girvin was incorporated as a village in 1907. By 1915 it had three grain elevators, along with hockey, football, curling and baseball teams. The population peaked at 151 in 1926, dipped to 93 in 1941, and rebounded to about 140 in the 1950s before falling again from the 1960s on.
The school closed in 1970, and by the 1980s only a gas station and garage remained. The skating rink collapsed in 2004, and on December 19, 2005, Girvin gave up its village status and became a hamlet in the RM of Arm River No. 252.
Today the community has about twenty residents. The Girvin Pump House, built in 1906 near the tracks, is the only pump house in Saskatchewan and has been a Municipal Heritage Property since 1994. It watered the horses hauling grain into town, and townspeople sometimes drew from it for their laundry. A large metal bison and Red River cart sculpture by Don Wilkins also stands in the community.
Written from Wikipedia’s article “Girvin, Saskatchewan” (CC BY-SA 4.0), and shared under the same licence.