Title (English): Shiloh Baptist Church and Cemetery

Here is another site off the beaten track. Visit one of the African Canadian community places of memory in Saskatchewan: the Shiloh Baptist Church and its cemetery. To do so, take the road back to the Yellowhead Highway (Highway 16), returning from St. Walberg about 30 kilometres before arriving in Maidstone on Highway 21, a little to the east. The property nestles in a small grove of trees and shrubs. It has been named one of Canada's Historic Places since 1991. It includes a one-room log building built in 1912 and an adjoining cemetery. Its significance lies in its association with Saskatchewan's first black community, which arrived from Oklahoma in 1910. 

After the Civil War, tens of thousands of formerly enslaved people began migrating to Oklahoma Territory, where they could vote, study and live in relative freedom. The political situation changed in 1907 when Oklahoma was granted statehood and elected a segregationist state government. As a result, a small black Baptist congregation from Oklahoma was drawn to Saskatchewan in search of a life free from segregation and racism. In 1910, with the promise of free lands in western Canada, a dozen black families, many formerly enslaved people or their descendants, arrived in Saskatchewan and settled in the region. A community of more than fifty families eventually gathered around these 12 families. In 1912, they built their church and named it Shiloh Baptist Church. The church was constructed of hand-dovetailed poplar logs, pulled by an ox- cart from the North Saskatchewan River, and furnished with handmade pews and a pulpit. It became the focal point of community life and a vital social and religious center for the Shiloh community. The only log church built by black pioneers in Saskatchewan remained in use until the mid-1940s when the community had largely moved away. 

The federal government website will give you GPS