Prior to December 19, 2005, Girvin was unincorporated as a village, and was restructured as a hamlet under the jurisdiction of the Rural municipality of Big Arm on that date.
History
The town’s name was in honour of John Alexander Girvin, a Winnipeg-based contractor who was responsible for the construction of countless railroad stations across the prairies. The Qu’Appelle, Long Lake, and Saskatchewan Railroad and Steamboat Company railway passed through the area in the 1880s. Settlement of the area followed soon after, in about 1902 and consisted mostly of immigrants from Ontario. A school and post office opened April 1, 1905 with a restaurant, veterinarian, Massey-Harris dealership,lumber yard, butcher, hotel, bank, livery, blacksmith and a 3 story hotel following soon after. In 1907, the community had grown to such a size that it was incorporated as a village. Over the next few years, the town continued to grow and at its height, in 1915, the town boasted three grain elevatorsThe town also boasted hockey, football, curling and baseball teams. Girvin’s population peaked at 151 people in 1926 but slid to only 93 residents in 1941, only to rebound slightly in the 1950s with 140 people. This however, was only a short-term reprieve. Beginning in the 1960s, the population once again began to fall. By the 1980s the only business left in town was a gas station and garage. In 2004 the skating rink collapsed. Girvin lost its village status on December 19, 2005. Today there are twenty residents with no businesses but the town is home to a large metal sculpture of a bison and Red River Cart created by Don Wilkins.
Attractions
The Girvin Pump House, constructed in 1906, is situated on a 380-square metre piece of land near the railway tracks. It provided water for horses hauling grain into town and some townspeople also used its water for doing laundry. It is the only pump house in Saskatchewan and has been recognized as a Municipal Heritage Property since 1994. Originally, it worked by the way of a gas pump that drew water to a tank at the top of the pump house. The tower portion of this building is a smaller version of the traditional railway water towers that were common across the prairies. The gas pump was subsequently replaced with an electric one. When the horses needed water, a rope was pulled, which released the water and filled a horse trough at the front of the building. Eventually, as cars and tractors replaced horses on the farm, the pump house fell out of use.
