Webb, Saskatchewan, located half an hour west of Swift Current, is a small community of 70 people. Incorporated in 1910, it was once much larger but migration to larger communities has caused a slow decline in the population.
Today’s post isn’t about the Webb of now though. It is about the Webb of yesteryear, when the community literally built a wall down the middle of the village.
In 1907, the community had three buildings but by 1908 Webb had grown to become a town. As the community grew, two land developers arrived. One worked in the east side of town, another in the west side of town.
With two land developers vying for control, two sides of the community grew. East Webb built a three-storey hotel that included a dining room and bar. There was also a department store with a dance hall, a blacksmith shop, two lumber yards, three livery barns and a pool hall. Several residences were built in the East End of town as well.
In West Webb, there were many of the same types of businesses, but they catered to residents on the west end.
Over time, a bitter feud developed between the two sides of the town. As the feud grew, people on both sides of Webb wanted to keep the other side out.
A barbed wire fence was built to create a buffer zone midway between them. It was the Berlin Wall, decades before the Berlin Wall. For several years, this fence separated the community before cooler heads prevailed.
Negotiations between the two sides of Webb resulted in the tearing down of the Webb Wall. With the wall down, the two sides started to build into the buffer zone and before long one Webb emerged.