Gull Lake in 1916: Elections, Fires, Homesteads, and a Year of Rain
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Several late‑1915 events shaped the year that followed.
In October 1915, the long-awaited Wadlinger & Balkowski lease was finally opened for homestead entry—a large block of former Crown grazing land northwest of town that many local settlers had waited years to file on. Many residents went to Maple Creek on October 20, 1915, to secure their claims.
Only a week later, the district faced what oldtimers remembered as the most disastrous prairie fire ever witnessed here. Beginning shortly after noon on a Saturday, the fire swept southeast from miles northwest of Tompkins, driven by a severe gale. It burned through the north half of the Jews Pasture and damaged cropland beyond the pasture fence. The advance was finally stopped by the C.P.R. grade near Seward.
Eyewitnesses described a fire front three to six miles wide, with flames reaching twelve feet high where the grass stood thick—an unforgettable sight.
A Winter Fire in Town
Late in 1915, the week before Christmas, a major fire destroyed much of the east side of Block 2 on Conrad Avenue. Lost in the blaze were:
The Theatre (Sam Tyler)
Gull Lake Hardware (Jack Anderson & W.R. Hutton)
Morrow’s Furniture
The Palace Pool Hall (J. Latour)
This followed earlier fires: the Jacobs and Schoonmaker blocks on the west side of the same street in 1913 and the town’s first grain elevator in 1912—owned by Engelstad & Markuson—which burned on an extremely cold night. The elevator stood in Block 8, roughly west of where Kirwan Construction sits today along the rail line, a location still recognizable by its proximity to the tracks.
Assessments, Taxes, and the End of the Water Debate
The 1916 assessment roll listed:
$496,000 in real property
$201,522 in business assessment
The tax rate remained unchanged from the previous year.
The long‑running water system question, which had dominated earlier discussions, appears to have been abandoned. Several engineering survey bills were paid, but the records show no further action.
A Year Remembered for Rain
If 1915 was remembered for fire, 1916 was remembered for water — from the sky, not the pipes. It became one of the wettest years in local experience. Some fields produced remarkable yields, while others were complete losses due to rust, especially the flat southeast of Carmichael.
The contrast was clear to everyone: after years of debating how to bring water into town, 1916 delivered more than enough on its own.
Gull Lake Events
Attribution: Historical details sourced from Gull Lake Memories: A History of the Town of Gull Lake.
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