Nipawin

Nipawin (/ˈnɪpəwɪn/) is a town in Saskatchewan, Canada, on the Saskatchewan River portion of Tobin Lake. The town lies between Codette Lake, created by the Francois-Finlay Dam (built in 1986) and Tobin Lake, created by the E.B. Campbell Dam built in 1963, renamed from Squaw Rapids. The construction of Francois-Finlay Dam earned Nipawin the nickname the "Town of Two Lakes".

Nipawin is bordered by the Rural Municipality of Nipawin No. 487 and the Rural Municipality of Torch River No. 488 (the latter across the Saskatchewan River).

Highway 35 and Highway 55 intersect in Nipawin. The Nipawin Airport and the Nipawin Water Aerodrome also serve the community.

Nipawin is a Cree word meaning "stand up" which referred to a low-lying area along the river now flooded by Codette Lake where First Nations women and children would camp and wait for the men to arrive.

The first permanent settlement of Nipawin occurred in 1910 with the establishment of a trading post. In 1924 a branch-line of the Canadian Pacific Railway passed nearby, crossing the North Saskatchewan River over the Crooked Bridge, and the settlement was moved, building by building, to its current location alongside the railway line.

The Nipawin Historical Society's publication, Bridging the years : Nipawin, Saskatchewan, published in 1988, presents the settlement's early history.

In 1751, a group of New France soldiers commanded by Joseph Boucher de Niverville may have built a short-lived fort, Fort La Jonquière, near the site of Nipawin.

Severalfur trading posts may have operated at various times in the area, but they are poorly documented. In 1763 Joseph Smith reached the area from York Factory. In 1768 James Finlay from Montreal built a post. François le Blanc, apparently the man known as "Saswe", had a post by that year or the next. In 1790 William Thorburn built there then moved to Hungry Hall the following year.