Pilot Butte | The Canadian Encyclopedia

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Pilot Butte

Pilot Butte is now a residential community for Regina, appealing to those who prefer a more rural lifestyle. This upward trend in population bucks the general Saskatchewan trend of depopulation of rural areas. A violent storm hit the area on 26 August 1995, damaging most homes in the community.

Pilot Butte

 Pilot Butte, Sask, incorporated as a town in 1980, population 1848 (2011c), 1872 (2006c). The Town of Pilot Butte is located 15 km east of REGINA on the Canadian Pacific Railway main line. Pilot Butte is named for the small flat-topped hill (or butte) in the townsite. The butte was used by native peoples in the area as a campsite and lookout onto the plains below. After the coming of the railway in 1882, settlers began farming in the area, and by 1890 there was a brick plant in the settlement. Early in the 1900s a second plant was built that employed over 800 people at its peak. The sand and gravel deposits in the area were extensively used during railway construction. The brick plants closed during World War I, however, and the village of Pilot Butte (incorporated 1913) began a decline in population that continued until the 1960s. The loss of residents led to the disbandment of the village council in 1923. Pilot Butte was reinstated as a village in 1963 and later incorporated as a town.

Pilot Butte is now a residential community for Regina, appealing to those who prefer a more rural lifestyle. This upward trend in population bucks the general Saskatchewan trend of depopulation of rural areas. A violent storm hit the area on 26 August 1995, damaging most homes in the community.