Hanley is a town in south-central Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. It is located 65 km south of Saskatoon. Population (2001) 510. It was named after Hanley in Staffordshire

Staffordshire

Staffordshire is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. Part of the National Forest lies within its borders...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 by early founders. It is also the seat for the rural municipality of Rosedale

Rosedale No. 283, Saskatchewan

Rosedale No. 283, Saskatchewan is a rural municipality in central Saskatchewan, Canada along Highway 11 between Saskatoon and Regina. The two Local Improvement Districts of LID 15 B 3 and LID 15 C 3 combined together to form Rural Municipality of Rosedale No. 283, Saskatchewan...

.

Hanley was founded in 1902 and incorporated as a town in 1906. It is a typical small agricultural community in the grain-growing region of Southern Saskatchewan. Thousands of settlers came into the area in the early part of the 20th century after land speculators had procured the lands. Early settlers came from the UK, Eastern Canada, America and Scandinavia. A large community of Norwegian descendants still makes up a significant percentage of the area's residents and there is also a substantial Mennonite-German community.

There are several reservoirs in the region and some limited irrigation projects have utilized them. Wheat, barley, canola, alfalfa, hay, flax, oats, rye and specialty crops are grown in the area. There is also cattle ranching and other specialty livestock production. There is an organization called 4-H that helps town and farm kids learn how to care for farm animals such as cattle and horses.

Hanley is typical of small "Dust Belt" towns of the North American Great Plains

Great Plains

The Great Plains are a broad expanse of flat land, much of it covered in prairie, steppe and grassland, which lies west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains in the United States and Canada. This area covers parts of the U.S...

 and there has been a great decrease in the rural population and consolidation of agricultural industries of this region in the last 20 years. Consequently, the tax base is in decline. Hanley has no industries but there is a school, an RCMP depot, churches, post office and some businesses. Hanley's population is growing with a number of young families relocating in the past few years. Although there are no longer grain elevators, train station or loading platforms, the Canadian National's

Canadian National Railway

The Canadian National Railway Company is a Canadian Class I railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec. CN's slogan is "North America's Railroad"....

 Saskatoon/Regina railway still passes through the community. Rail cars can be seen sitting waiting to be loaded with grain in the fall and spring. It is also on Provincial Highway 11

Saskatchewan Highway 11

Highway 11 is a major north-south highway in Saskatchewan, Canada that connects the province's three largest cities: Regina, Saskatoon and Prince Albert. It is a structural pavement major arterial highway which is approximately long. It is also known as the Louis Riel Trail after the 19th century...

. Hanley was once noted for being an important community in this region of Saskatchewan and several railroads were to come through this community and for many years up until the 1960s, was an important trading and business centre in the region.

There were some grand buildings and homes in the town including one of the few Opera Houses in Canada, the Lawrence House Mansion and one of the largest and finest brick schools in the region. All are now gone.
It has a neighboring town called Dundurn, also named after a street in Staffordshire.

Hanley Composite School, under the Prairie Spirit School Division

Prairie Spirit School Division

Prairie Spirit School Division No. 206 has 44 schools located in 28 communities surrounding the city of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan which includes 3 First Nations and 8 Hutterite communities...

, is a K-12 School with about 250 Students. Students from Dundurn Elementary School finish their schooling at Hanley School. Hanley School is the home of the Sabers, the Hanley Sabers won the 2009 provincial championship for 1A 6-man football.

External links

• Town of Hanley Official Site
• Saskatoon Gen Web
• 2001 Census - Statistics Canada's page on the 2001 Census.
• Hanley School Webpage