Saskatoon Forestry Farm Park & Zoo (Saskatoon)

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1903 Forestry Farm Park Dr.
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan S7S 1G9

Spacious green lawns, flower gardens, sport fields, heritage landmarks and the Saskatoon Zoo make the Forestry Farm Park a favourite site for all people of all ages and interests. The park was created in 1972, but its history goes back to the early years of the 20th century.

It opened in 1913 in the community of Sutherland as a tree nursery station and model farm under the Forestry Branch of the federal Department of the Interior. The complex eventually grew to include staff residences, tree packing and storage areas, a pumphouse for the irrigation system, a greenhouse, botanists' research facility, a blacksmith shop, as well as a barn. Laid out to resemble a progressive farmyard, these buildings have all been adapted for use in the Saskatoon Zoo.

The balance of the site was taken up by the field operations of planting and harvesting tree seedlings, planting shelterbelts to protect the site and demonstrate the effectiveness of trees on the prairie, fields of experimental plantings, and park-like grounds around the farm buildings to illustrate the benefit of ornamental landscaping. A significant amount of this landscape remains. Closed as a tree nursery in 1965, the site became the Forestry Farm Park and Saskatoon Zoo in 1972.

The Forestry Park Farm and Zoo was designated a national historic site in 1990 by virtue of its role as a Forest Nursery Station. The challenges of settlement and agriculture on the prairies prompted the development of new and scientific farming methods, supported by the Department of the Interior. Trees and shelterbelts were found to be part of the solution.

www.historicplaces.ca/visit-visite/com-ful_e.aspx?id=76...