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The original 
settlement was 
informally called 
“Diamond” because 
of the diamond 
shape made by the 
intersecting railway 
tracks. The name of 
the settlement was 
soon changed to Warman in honour of Cy 
Warman, a journalist, author and poet who 
worked as a publicity writer for Canadian 
Northern and the Grand Trunk Pacific 
Railway documenting the railway expansion 
boom in western Canada. There was a large 
influx of settlers into the area following the 
construction of the new railway, lured by the 
promise of a quarter section of farmland for 
$10, and also by the business opportunities 
The Village of Warman was incorporated in 
1906, but it actually had its beginning two 
years earlier, in 1904, when the Canadian 
Northern Railway (a predecessor of 
Canadian National Railway) was built from 
Humboldt to North Battleford. The railway 
tracks were built parallel to the Dominion 
Telegraph line originally built in 1876. 
Warman was located at the intersection of 
the new east-west CN line and the existing 
north-south Canadian Pacific Railway line 
from Regina to Prince Albert.
in the new community. The railways, 
newspapers and government encouraged 
settlement, and Warman soon became 
a bustling village with a large school, 
churches, a bank, two hotels, a newspaper, a 
blacksmith shop, a shoe repair shop, several 
general stores and even wooden sidewalks. 
The surrounding rural municipality was also 
named Warman.
Warman boasts a vibrant history rooted in the construction 
of the railway lines. It has weathered various challenges such 
as tornadoes, droughts, epidemics, and beyond. Despite these 
adversities, it has flourished to become the vibrant, modern 
community it is today.
History of Warman
warman.ca/278
history

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