Description of Historic Place

Melville Railway Station National Historic Site of Canada is a rectangular, two-storey, wooden structure prominently situated at the head of Main Street, just south of First Avenue, with twin half-timbered gables on both the town and track side elevations. On the town side, a shingled canopy shelters the building’s entrance. Melville is a small city located in the east-central portion of Saskatchewan, 144 kilometers northeast of the provincial capital of Regina and 43 kilometers southwest of Yorkton. Official recognition refers to the building on its footprint.

Heritage Value

Melville Railway Station was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 2014. It is recognized because:

- as a major station on the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway (GTPR) line, it is associated with the settlement and development of the West, and more specifically with the railway’s key role in this aspect of Canadian history. The expansion of the railway in the West at the beginning of the 20th century brought immigrants to newly surveyed regions and, through transporting grain, allowed the agricultural economy to flourish;
- the GTPR relied heavily on a fairly small number of standardized station plans. Custom designed stations were usually located at significant division points and terminals. In the case of Melville, the company chose a large “special” design for the station, reflecting Melville’s status as a divisional point on the rail’s main line through the West;
- the town of Melville and its station were named for Charles Melville Hays, the president of the GTPR and the selection of the site as a major divisional point on the GTPR's transcontinental main line gave both impetus and shape to the town of Melville's early development and has contributed to its ongoing prosperity.

As a major station on the GTPR line, the Melville station is associated with the settlement and development of western Canada. Its design was selected from standard plans for a divisional point on the railway’s main line and modified by increasing the size and adding twin peaked gables. This attractive station illustrated the quality of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway’s building program along its first-class continental main line. The selection of Melville as a major divisional point gave impetus to and shaped the direction and prosperity of Melville over the course of the twentieth century, illustrating in Melville the ongoing impact that the railway had on community development. The value of the Melville station relates to its historical associations, architectural significance and impact on the community.

Source: Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada, Minutes, July 2012.

Character-Defining Elements

Key elements contributing to the heritage value of this site include:

- its prominent location at the head of Main Street, just south of First Avenue;
- as an example of a “special” standard design, chosen for this significant divisional point, it should retain its characteristic size, massing, deep, overhanging eaves supported on prominent brackets and twin gables;
- surviving architectural details such as the false half-timbering;
- the original layout of the second floor is essentially intact;
- its ongoing relationship to the railway tracks.