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Culture Days will return September 20 – October 13, 2024.
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Self Guided Historic Walking Tour of Saskatoon - City of Bridges
Digital
History & heritage Photography Self-guided Tour Writing & literatureDate and time
This activity runs the duration of Culture Days.
Location
Saskatoon, SK
Access
Free.
Offered in English.
About
Every city needs a backbone - here in Saskatoon, it’s the slow moving waters of the great South Saskatchewan River. The river once provided water for the legions of buffalo who roamed the prairies, and the plains First Nations who hunted them, and now feeds the taps of every house in Saskatoon. As the backbone of the city, the river is a prominent character in almost every story from the city's history. Follow us on this tour as we follow the South Saskatchewan River through Saskatoon's major life events and growth into one of Canada's most prominent prairie cities.
This scenic riverbank tour starts at River Crossing on Spadina Crescent East, where you can see the devastating effects of the extreme prairie climate on the environment. After that, we’ll follow the promenade under the Senator Sid Buckwald Bridge, where we will find the next stop and learn about the geological foundations of Saskatchewan, along with the sad fate of the prairie buffalo. Then we’ll cross over the historic Traffic Bridge to learn about the settlement of Saskatoon by the Colonial Temperance Society. Mere steps away, we’ll see the “Worst Nautical Disaster In Prairie History,” that shook the foundation of the Traffic Bridge. We’ll leave the bridge for a nice walk along Meewasin Trail to Broadway Bridge, where we’ll learn how the site for Saskatoon was chosen and how the Great Depression spurred the bridge’s construction. After that stop, we’ll continue along the trail until we reach Saskatchewan Crescent East and 15th Street East, where we’ll learn about some of Saskatoon’s worst accidents, along with the affect wartime had on the city. Finally, we’ll end our tour at University Bridge for a reflection on the South Saskatchewan River’s continued importance to this day.
Links
- Learn more about On This Spot onthisspot.ca
- Download in the Apple App Store (iOS) apps.apple.com
- Download in the Google Play Store (Android) play.google.com
Organizer
On This Spot
On This Spot guides people on a tour back in time, showing & telling the history that surrounds them. On each spot, users will find themselves standing in the footsteps of a photographer who took a historic photo. On site tourists/users can use the built-in camera feature to create their own then-and-photos, which can be shared on social media and saved as a digital souvenir. Selections of these photos are chained together into walking tours that take a deep dive into local history.
On This Spot strives to make history engaging, educational, and accessible to all with a focus on easy to use features and a succinct writing style. The aim is to create an intuitive user experience that provides historical unparalleled depth without overwhelming or confusing users.