The land on which the Town of
Aberdeen currently sits was settled as early as 1900. Originally
named Dueck, it was organized as the hamlet of Aberdeen
in 1904. It was named in honour of Ishbel Maria Marjoribanks
Gordon, Lady Aberdeen, who was the founder of the National
Council of Women of Canada.
The CN railway arrived in 1904, and by 1907, Aberdeen
had the 15 necessary occupied dwellings to officially become a
village. By 1907, Aberdeen’s population had grown to 300,
according to Henderson’s Western Canada Gazetteer and Directory.
In 1937, a devastating Main St. fire dealt the village
a serious blow. This, coupled with the Depression and increasingly
easy access to the City of Saskatoon, combined to create a period
of decline for Aberdeen, a decline that didn’t begin to
see reversal until the 1970s.
A 1910 Aberdeen Board of Trade publication titled
“A Profitable Place for the Settler in the Last West,”
describes Aberdeen as “a town that does things.” Come
see for yourself: this phrase still rings true today!
