Erwood grew up along the railway. In 1890 the Canadian Northern Railway began building a line north from Swan River, Manitoba, aiming for Hudson Bay. The builders started in the narrow corridor between the Porcupine Hills and Lake Winnipegosis, but then turned west into the North-West Territories, where the logging industry was developing. By 1900 the line ended at E.R. Wood, a spot that later became known as Erwood. From 1903 to 1905 the line was extended west to Melfort.
Between 1907 and 1910 a second line was built to link the Erwood–Melfort line with The Pas, Manitoba. The two lines crossed at Etomami River, later renamed Hudson Bay Junction, since the new line was meant to carry on to the shores of Hudson Bay.
Lumber shaped the area through the early 20th century. Several sawmills operated around Erwood, and from the 1920s to the 1940s these included corporate mills owned by Dart Lumber Company and Dovich Brothers, along with private mills owned by P.E. Sturby and Nick Ukrainetz.
Many Belarusian, Russian and Ukrainian immigrants settled in the area. The Church of God in Erwood has been operating since the 1920s, and its services were first held in Russian. Today they are held in English on Sunday mornings, and the church supports a summer camp at Greenwater Lake Provincial Park. Erwood today has an outfitting business for guided hunting, a community centre and the church.
Written from Wikipedia’s article “Erwood, Saskatchewan” (CC BY-SA 4.0), and shared under the same licence.