Maidstone sits in west central Saskatchewan at the junction of Highways 16 and 21, about 57 km east of Lloydminster and 84 km west of North Battleford. It takes its name from Maidstone, Kent, in England.
Settlers began arriving in the spring of 1903, many of them Barr Colonists. After the Canadian Northern Railway came through in 1905, they were joined by African American settlers from the United States and a significant number of Mennonites. The CNR station, built that same year, still stands. John Henry "Jack" Wesson settled in the area in 1907 and went on to become one of Saskatchewan's foremost farm leaders, serving as the first president of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture in 1936 and president of the Saskatchewan Wheat Pool in 1937.
In 1909, African Americans from Oklahoma settled in the Eldon district near Maidstone, creating the first and only African American farming community in the province. Facing segregation and laws that took away their vote in the newly formed state of Oklahoma, about 10 or 12 families, led by Julius Caesar Lane and Joseph Mayes, founded the Shiloh colony. By the late 1920s it had between 50 and 75 families. Today the log Shiloh Baptist Church, built in 1911, and the Shiloh Baptist Cemetery remain, and both were designated a heritage property in 1991.
Maidstone became a town in 1955. Oil and gas development in the 1970s brought growth, and the population rose from under 700 to over 1,000 by 1981. Today the town is home to the Maidstone & District Museum, Silver Lake Regional Park and the Maidstone Jets hockey team. Singer Joni Mitchell lived here as a young child and mentions the town in her song "Song For Sharon."
Written from Wikipedia’s article “Maidstone, Saskatchewan” (CC BY-SA 4.0), and shared under the same licence.