The history of the hamlet of Plato

By Joan Janzen

Many people in the Eston-Kindersley area will have fond memories of the village of Plato. According to an article in The Eston Press (July 6, 1956), the original townsite was one-half mile south and two miles west of its later location and consisted mainly of two stores. In 1914, another survey was made, and a new location was staked out. The arrival of the railroad in 1915 brought a corresponding building boom.

According to information from Eston’s history book “Grass to Grain,” the village was incorporated on May 26, 1916. The Plato Pub was moved from Tyner to Plato in 1927. D.A. Hennessey built an ice cream parlour on the north side of the building.

St. Basil’s Roman Catholic Church was functioning in Plato in 1918 and closed in 2001. With only three practicing families attending the church, it was felt it was economically not possible to carry on.

The Plato community hall started in 1929, with one of the items of interest being a scroll listing the members of Plato and district who volunteered for active service with Canada’s Fighting Forces. There are sixty names on the scroll, five of which were killed in action.

The Plato School was open from 1915 to 1970, the longest of any of the twenty-six schools in the RM of Snipe Lake. A cairn marks the location.

Plato has another claim to fame. Its post office is believed to be the smallest free-standing post office in Canada.

The move to disband the village came in the fall of 1994 when a petition was circulated asking that the village, which had a population of about twenty, be dissolved and revert to the RM of Snipe Lake.

Lloyd Gillies was elected by acclamation as Plato’s last mayor, with Pat Burke and Janet Robinson as councillors. Their last few acts included a vote for the dissolution of the village, as well as refunding 95 percent of the municipal and school taxes, which had been paid in 1994.

Once the dissolution occurred, the RM of Snipe Lake became responsible for maintaining the streets in Plato, which included snow removal and street lighting. Sadly, the Plato Pub, which was the only remaining business in Plato, was destroyed by fire on May 28, 1997. Patrice Pope was the owner of the Plato Pub.