Otthon, Saskatchewan is located north of Melville on the Canadian National Railway line, 17 kilometers from Yorkton. The line was built in 1910 by the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway. In 1919, due to the company’s financial difficulties, the Dominion Government took over the rail line, placing it under management of the Canadian National Railway. An interesting story appeared in The Yorkton Enterprise January 27, 1910. It tells of a petition that Otthon settlers sent to the GTP Company requesting that the station be called “Otthon” since it was already the name of the area settlers’ post office and the two school districts of East Otthon and West Otthon. Some company officials wanted to name it “Hilton” or “Hillton.” It appears that the settlers won out because of some political intervention. The area had been settled mostly by Hungarians who had arrived sixteen years before the railway. Otthon is the Hungarian equivalent for the English word “home.”
This edition of History Corner originally ran in the Aug. 26, 2009 edition of Yorkton This Week.
Terri Lefebvre-Prince
