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Hamona Provincial Historic Site

Spy Hill RM 152, Saskatchewan, S0A, Canada

Reconnu formellement en: 1986/08/21

View north at interpretive panel, 2004.; Government of Saskatchewan, Marvin Thomas, 2004.
Historic Site
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Autre nom(s)

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Liens et documents

Date(s) de construction

Inscrit au répertoire canadien: 2005/04/15

Énoncé d'importance

Description du lieu patrimonial

The Hamona Provincial Historic Site comprises a one-half hectare parcel of rural land in the Qu’Appelle Valley, approximately 40 kilometres north of the Town of Moosomin. The property features archaeological remains of a late nineteenth-century agricultural settlement.

Valeur patrimoniale

The heritage value of the Hamona Provincial Historic Site lies in its association with the beginnings of the co-operative movement in Saskatchewan. In 1895, in the midst of a severe economic depression, two brothers, William and Edward Paynter, and a small group of like-minded individuals from Beulah, Manitoba formed the Harmony Industrial Association. As a remedy to the perceived inequities of the prevailing competitive socio-economic system, the Association established "Hamona,” a utopian agricultural settlement intended to operate “. . . On the basis of cooperation, for the benefit of its members and mankind in general.”

Hamona was notable for its progressive social policies and operating principles, including guaranteed employment, a maximum 10 hour work day and equal pay for all jobs, free housing and education, health benefit insurance, a proposed family allowance, and social ownership of resources. Although familiar with Marx and Engels, Hamona’s founders described their philosophy as “cooperation, not communism,” and stressed that the Association was not to interfere with the exercise of individual preferences in all social, religious and domestic matters. Hamona’s ideology is well-encapsulated in a member’s statement: “In essentials unity; in non-essentials liberty.”

By the late 1890s, the settlement had a population of around 50 people, several residences, a large store, stable, ice house, carpenter shop, blacksmith shop and community wash house. The colony was largely self-sufficient and was selling surplus products to neighbouring merchants. However, differing philosophical views, less growth in membership than anticipated, and, perhaps most importantly, the failure to secure an easily accessible rail link, resulted in the dissolution of the colony in 1900. Nevertheless, several members went on to participate in co-operative ventures and political movements that helped forge Saskatchewan’s distinctive character, including the United Grain Growers, the Cooperative Elevator Company, Saskatchewan Municipal Hail Insurance, the Cooperative Creamery, and the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation (CCF).

Source:

Province of Saskatchewan, Order in Council 870/86, August 21, 1986.

Éléments caractéristiques

The heritage value of the Hamona Provincial Historic Site resides in the following character-defining elements:
-the site’s location on a parcel of undeveloped rural land in the Qu’Appelle Valley;
-structural remains related to the former settlement, such as cellars and foundations;
-artifacts deriving from the 1895-1900 occupation, especially any objects in their original location and context.

Reconnaissance

Juridiction

Saskatchewan

Autorité de reconnaissance

Gouvernement de la Saskatchewan

Loi habilitante

Parks Act, art. 7

Type de reconnaissance

Lieu historique

Date de reconnaissance

1986/08/21

Données sur l'histoire

Date(s) importantes

1895/01/01 à 1900/12/31

Thème - catégorie et type

Établir une vie sociale et communautaire
Les mouvements sociaux

Catégorie de fonction / Type de fonction

Actuelle

Loisirs
Parc

Historique

Communauté
Établissement

Architecte / Concepteur

s/o

Constructeur

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Informations supplémentaires

Emplacement de la documentation

Heritage Conservation Branch, Ministry of Parks, Culture and Sport, 3211 Albert Street, Regina, Saskatchewan S4S 5W6

Réfère à une collection

Identificateur féd./prov./terr.

GR 2250

Statut

Édité

Inscriptions associées

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