Regina is the Canadian city closest to the geographical centre of North America at a latitude of 50°26′ north and a longitude of 104°37′ west. Regina's altitude is 577 metres (1,893 feet) above mean sea level.
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2 Education 3 Nearby towns 4 Sports teams 5 Wascana Centre 6 Attractions 7 External links |
History
Regina was founded in 1882 when the Canadian Pacific Railway constructed a transcontinental railroad line through the region. The Dominion Lands Act encouraged homesteaders to come to the area where they could purchase 160 acres (65 hectares) of land for $10. The city was originally known as the "Pile of Bones", because of the large amounts of buffalo bones in the area.
The hamlet of Pile of Bones was renamed in 1882 to Regina (Latin for queen) by Princess Louise, the wife of Canada's Governor General, in honour of her mother Queen Victoria, the British monarch at the time. Reginans commonly refer to Regina as the "Queen City".
In 1883 Regina was chosen as the new capital of the Northwest Territories over Battleford, given its close proximity to the railroad. Regina remained the territorial capital until 1905 when Saskatchewan became a province. On December 1, 1883, Regina was officially declared a town. The town's first mayor, David Scott, was elected on January 10, 1884.
In one of the sombre notes of the city's history, Louis Riel was brought to Regina after being defeated by government forces in the North-West Rebellion. Riel was found guilty of treason and hanged on November 16, 1885. The trial is re-enacted each summer by local actors in the Trial of Louis Riel.
From 1892 to 1920, Regina was the headquarters of the North West Mounted Police, and it is now western headquarters of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and home of the RCMP training academy. The RCMP Musical Ride is also performed there every summer.
With a population of more than 3,000, Regina was incorporated as a city on June 19, 1903, with Jacob W. Smith serving as the first mayor. After Saskatchewan became a province on September 1, 1905, Regina was officially decreed the capital on May 23, 1906. In 1908 the first city hall was completed on the current site of the Galleria in downtown Regina while work commenced on constructing the province's legislative buildings beside Wascana Lake.
On June 30, 1912, a tornado devasted the city, killing 28, injuring hundreds and destroying more than 400 buildings. The estimated $5 million dollars in damage took more than two years to repair.
Regina Riot
The Great Depression of the 1930s caused massive unemployment in western Canada. As frustrations grew among the unemployed, 1300 men boarded trains in Vancouver bound for Ottawa to demand work from the federal government. The issue came to a boiling point in Regina, where the numbers had swelled to 1,800 by the time the Prime Minister intervened and ordered the protest to be disbanded. On July 1, 1935, the protests turned violent in the culmination of the "Regina Riot". During the three hours of fighting, one police officer was killed and over 80 protestors, police officers and bystanders were injured.
Education
The University of Regina is located in the southeast corner of the city.
Nearby towns
Towns that are in close proximity to Regina include White City, Emerald Park, Balgonie, Lumsden, and Pilot Butte. Regina is 260 km south of Saskatoon (2.5 hour drive).
Sports teams
Sports teams of Regina include the Regina Pats of the Western Hockey League, the Regina Rams of the CIS as well as the home of the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the CFL.
Wascana Centre
Wascana Centre (WC) is a 9.3-square-kilometre park built around Wascana Lake. WC includes a Waterfowl Park that provides a refuge for geese and other birds that do not fly south for the winter. Speakers Corner on the north shore of Wascana Lake features gas lamps from London and birch trees from Runnymede Meadow where King John signed the Magna Carta in 1215.
Starting in the fall of 2003, Wascana Lake is being drained and then dredged to deepen its depth by about 5 metres (16 feet), primarily to decrease weed growth during the summer months. The project is expected to last three months, just in time for the spring runoff. In the 1930s as part of a government relief project, 2100 men widened and dredged Wascana Creek using only hand tools and horse-drawn wagons to form Wascana Lake. The Albert Street bridge that passes over the lake is in the Guinness Book of Records as the longest bridge to cross the smallest amount of water.
Attractions
See also: Canadian provinces and territories, Canadian cities
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| West: Sherwood Park No. 159 | Regina | East: Sherwood Park No. 159 | |||
| South: Sherwood Park No. 159 |