Davidson began in 1902, when Colonel Andrew Duncan Davidson, an enthusiastic entrepreneur from Glencoe, Ontario, came to Saskatchewan hoping to create a midway settlement between Regina and Saskatoon. Farming was one of his driving passions, and through the Saskatchewan Valley Land Company he purchased 700,000 acres from the railway and the federal government, in an area where the soil was especially well suited to grain growing.
To draw people in, Davidson organized a train route from Chicago to Saskatoon that made one stop in the new community. It carried American bankers, entrepreneurs and newspapermen hoping to start businesses in the area, and he went on to sell more than 180,000 acres of land. The community took his name, and its central location soon earned it the nickname the 'Midway Town.' Davidson was officially declared a town on 15 November 1906, and The Davidson Leader has been publishing since 1904.
During World War II the Royal Canadian Air Force built and operated RCAF Station Davidson, part of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan, on a site 7 kilometres east of town. Today Davidson, roughly halfway between Saskatoon and Regina, is a popular stopping point beside Highway 11, with restaurants and gas stations along the highway, and it is home to the Davidson Cyclones hockey team.
Written from Wikipedia’s article “Davidson, Saskatchewan” (CC BY-SA 4.0), and shared under the same licence.