The old city hall was located where the Painted Hand Casino now stands. The gray brick two-storey building housed a public auditorium on the top floor, and council chambers and city offices on the lower floor.

In the north annex was the fire hall and above the fire hall itself were living quarters for the young volunteer firefighters.

The auditorium was reached by an outside steep flight of stairs. Dances, meetings and other social and community events were held there. The first Yorkton International Film Festival (now the Yorkton Short Film and Video Festival) was held in this hall.

Between City Hall and the building to the south was a lawn, which was used by the public to rest after shopping. In the evenings the Yorkton Film Council would show films using the side of the store building to the south as a screen.

The caretaker of the building lived in a tiny room under the stairs. He had a pet one-legged crow that came back every spring to the building where it knew food was always at hand.

The bell tower of the old city hall, now located in front of the Western Development Museum, was used for an alarm, but also each day rang at 12 noon and again at 1 p.m. so you could always tell if you had overstayed your noon lunch hour.

When the city offices were moved across the street into the old post office building, the upper floor became the public library.

With the widening of Smith Street, the Baptist Church which was next door to the city hall was moved across the street to its present location and the old city hall was torn down to make way for the Yorkton Co-op store.

Where the present city hall is located was a small two-room house from which Mina Thomson issued and carefully counted the ration books. This was during the war when sugar, gas and other commodities were rationed.

In certain cases additional ration coupons were issued, such as allotting more sugar in the fall for preserving. Beside her house was another small building from which the city engineer and staff worked. Both buildings were torn down to accommodate the construction of the Federal Building, which is now the City Hall.

In 1912, George Patrick opened a theatre in what was known as the Patrick Block. This building stood where the Bank of Nova Scotia and the two adjoining stores are now located. When the theater closed, there was a large empty hole-like space where it had been located.

The upper floors of the building continued to be occupied by suites, and in the basement was The Cave.

Here dances, meetings and other social and community events were held. The walls were covered with burlap painted to resemble the inside of a cave. I can remember attending Pythian Sister meetings and listening to the mice scampering up and down the walls. In 1964 the building was demolished to make way for the present buildings.

From 1912 to 1967 students of the area obtained their high school education in the Yorkton Collegiate Institute. At one time this building housed a teachers college and a business college as well as academic classes. On the top floor was an auditorium where the school held the Friday lit nights.

When the Dr. Brass Auditorium was added, Yorkton was able to hold more indoor school sporting events and the community used the auditorium for concerts, meetings , travelling art shows, music festival events and other community activities.

One of the most impressive of gala affairs held in the auditorium was a ball marking the official visit of Governor General Vincent Massey to the city in 1955.

All the ladies were decked out in their finest and the military and R.C.M.P. were in full dress uniforms. It was quite the glittering event.

One of the finest homes in Yorkton was constructed in 1902 by Levi Beck. This large home with its towers, cupolas and porches, surrounded with large trees, was Yorkton's fairy castle. It was located on Smith Street, between First and Second Avenues.

After the death of Mr. and Mrs. Beck the house fell into disrepair and became an eyesore. The city demolished it and in 1961 built the new fire hall on the site of the Beck house.

All that remains of the Beck estate are the tall evergreen trees along Second Avenue.