Hard work with a great view, Martin Lake in the distance.
Photo Credit: ©JJ Bougie
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Welcome to the Uranium City History website, covering past and present.
Uranium City is located in the northernmost corner of Saskatchewan. Originally a Cold War town, Uranium City came to life in the early 1950s, rapidly growing to more than a dozen mines, some with townsites for their own, and reached a population of nearly 10,000. By the 1960s, Canadian uranium could no longer be used for military purposes, and Uranium City supplied ore Canada’s Candu Reactor, then just beginning to come online.
The sudden closure of its last mine, the mammoth Beaverlodge Mine owned and run by Eldorado Nuclear, in 1982, saw the towns’s population plunge from 4000 to less than 400. Since then Uranium City has survived as, variously, a regional hub, the site of ongoing exploration, and mine reclamation. Tourism also supplies some visitors who come to fish in the many lakes, hunt in season, and generally enjoy some of the most spectacular landscape in Canada, if not the world. Depending on the time of year, 50 – 80 residents remain.
This site is dedicated to the history and present of Uranium City and area, and history of the Canadian North generally. For a general Uranium City history, please visit our About Page.
Latest Posts
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THE NEON SIGN
Most of my memories as a child are vivid. On this October night in 1957, the air is cool. I am five years old. My father carries me downhill of our town’s main road, “Uranium Road,” – it’s dark and immensely quiet. My head rests on his shoulder. Passing each streetlight, the incandescent luminosity reflects […]
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‘Ride The Cyclone’ continues
Play based on students from a fictional Uranium City continues touring I became aware of a play called ‘Ride The Cyclone’, based around a ‘St. Cassian High School chamber choir’ from Uranium City who perish on a roller coaster named ‘The Cyclone’. We certainly had above average educational facilities in Uranium City (especially for a […]
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RIP John (Jack) Grasley
From the memorial in Prince Albert Now: It is with heavy hearts the family announces the passing of John (Jack) Edward Grasley, late of Uranium City, SK at the age of 67 years from cancer, on Wednesday, July 19, 2023, in Prince Albert, SK, with the love of his life, Cathy Hartley by his side. […]
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Goldfields Hockey League
Jeffrey Street was kind enough to send these on to me last year and finally publishing them now. Not the headline ‘Near Arctic Circle’. Guess it’s all relative I guess, given Yellowknife barely existed at the time and transportation links were minimal. For the full articles: “Graduates Play Hockey Near Arctic Circle,” The Queen’s Review, […]
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New Book: Somewhere Safe – Uranium City
Author CC Phillips has a new book out, based on his time living in Uranium City from 1986 to 1994. Interestingly, his book stops just before my first trip back in 1996. From the website: Uranium City, the lure and the lore … Though the path has led a circuitous route, the town that would not […]
Latest Places
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Gunnar Mines Part 1
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Goldfields: The First Boom Town
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Sun Dogs and Yellowcake, Extract from Chapter 8:
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My Memories of Rix Athabasca Mines and Uranium City 1957 – ’60
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Dr. Colin Dafoe, Dogsled Doctor
Latest Photos
Hey, just wondering what happened to the Friends of Uranium City Facebook page, my dad can’t seem to find it…
Hi Grant – sorry for the delay in getting back. I was born in 1965, so . . . no.…
Hi. I am researching a family that used to live in Uranium City, and am looking for images from a…
U.C.resident 1956 to 1957, revisiting next month
Hi Kaden, Still there: https://www.facebook.com/groups/4168822363 Tim