Situated 19.3 kilometres north of the U.S. border, Coronach was founded in 1926 by the Canadian Pacific Railway. The CPR chose the name Coronach after the horse who had won the Epsom Derby in England in the same year.
Coronach was incorporated in 1928.
Before the railway and previous to the town鈥檚 creation, the pioneers in the Hart Butte area hauled their grain to Verwood, Ogema or Scobey.
In the years previous to the First World War, American merchants in Scobey Montana often received butter, eggs, poultry and other produce in exchange for necessities required by the pioneers who travelled over the border from Saskatchewan. However, after the war鈥檚 end, the customs officials began to enforce regulations with increased vigour, compelling the farmers in Hart Butte and region to seek domestic markets on the north side of the border instead.
The railway and the town鈥檚 creation provided significant infrastructure for the pioneers in Hart Butte during the 1920s, allowing the settlers to have access to groceries and other necessities within their district without having to traverse into Montana. The railway provided transportation for local agricultural goods to urban markets with greater ease.
Coronach is set within the pear-shaped Poplar River Basin. Rolling hills, soils of sandy and clay loam and a semi-arid climate define the topography of this area, where natural grasslands have also flourished.
Unless introduced, trees are absent in the RM of Hart Butte, even in coulees (Canadian French for ravine). In the flood plain of the East Poplar River, wildlife such as ducks, hawks, frogs, snakes, bobcats, racoons and other wildlife have long-established habitats, despite living in areas with little in vegetation except for long grasses and sage.
Coronach聽is located in the Brown Chernozemic Soil Zone in the semi-arid Mixed Grassland Ecoregion of southwestern Saskatchewan. The moisture deficit in 麻豆传媒AVwest Saskatchewan, especially in the regions near the U.S. border, is said to be highest in the province according to studies by the University of Saskatchewan.
Although semi-arid, the rolling lands of Hart Butte are appropriate for grain聽farming, where the production of wheat, durum, barley, oats, flax, rye and winter wheat are the dominate crops in the region.
However, some tracts of land in Coronach鈥檚 outer districts are only suitable for grazing and ranching.
Lignite coal in southern Saskatchewan is derived from the vast swamps and forests once covering the prairies 250 million years ago during the Carboniferous Period. When the tropical and humid weather vanished in Coronach and southern Saskatchewan, the plants decayed and transformed into coal, after the layers of sediment covering the vegetative matter amassed from heat and pressure. 聽聽聽
Aside from agriculture, coal mining has been a noteworthy industry in the region since the 1970s.
Coronach鈥檚 population remained near the 300 mark until 1974, when workers from other areas of Canada and beyond arrived to assist in building the Poplar River Power Plant 鈥� a coal-powered structure fuelled with lignite coal sourced from the Westmoreland Coal Poplar River Mine 15 kilometres north of town.
Coronach had been an agricultural community until 1975. The town grew in the late 1970s, when construction for the mine and the SaskPower facility began. Coronach鈥檚 population grew to about 1500 from 1979-1981 then dropped to about 900 and has declined ever since.
The federal government wanted to shutdown the majority of Canada鈥檚 coal-fired power generating plants by 2030 鈥� the closure could have a drastic effect on the town鈥檚 population.
鈥淲e鈥檙e anxious. This would cause anxiety for anyone. But we have eight to nine years to deal with this,鈥� Jim Achtymichuk, the deputy mayor and town councillor said during an interview with the Assiniboia Times in August 2019.
鈥淭he citizens are unsure about the future. Along with this, the infrastructure in town has been showing its age,鈥� Achtymichuk continued.
Possible economic growth might happen in the tourist industry, especially after complications related to the pandemic are sorted. After all, the town is close to so many unique areas worth exploring, such as the Big Muddy Valley.
鈥淲e have lots of tourist facilities. There鈥檚 a great tourist industry south of the TransCanada that a lot of people don鈥檛 realize,鈥� Achtymichuk said.
Coronach also has several amenities, including a K-12 school, a health centre, an ambulance service and an RCMP detachment.
The Coronach Recreation Sportsplex on 300 Centre Street houses a hockey rink and a curling rink. The town also has baseball diamonds for ballplayers. 聽
During the summer, the town operates a swimming pool and manages the adjoining Richardson Hart Spray Park. However, the pool wasn鈥檛 opened in 2020 because of a massive leak, coupled with issues related to COVID-19鈥檚 emergence this winter.
The聽Coronach Golf Club鈥� is a聽links-style golf course with fairways, native grass roughs and elevation fluctuations from hole-to-hole. The greens at the town鈥檚 course were designed to correspond with USGA standards.
For readers, the town has a public library on 111 Centre Street, which is part of the Palliser Regional Library system. In compliance with pubic health regulations, the Coronach Library reopened on July 21 by appointment only, with one family member allowed inside for a maximum stay of 15 minutes. Appointments for the library can be booked by calling 306-267-3260 from Tuesday at 1-4 p.m. and Wednesday from 1-3 p.m. Curbside pickup is still available. At this time, masks are required when entering the Coronach Library.
Finally, Coronach has lots of shops with essentials, including a pharmacy, a Co-op grocery store and a gas bar in this town a skip away from Montana and positioned in a region of agricultural tracts, semi-arid grasslands and rolling hills.聽 聽 聽 聽
