Englefeld takes its name from Peter Engel, an abbot of Saint John's Abbey in Collegeville, Minnesota, though it isn't known why the spelling of his name was changed for the village. The area was settled in 1902 and 1903 by German Catholic immigrants, who came by train to Rosthern and then travelled some 125 miles by horse to reach the land around Englefeld. The community was one of several within the tract known as St. Peter's Colony.
By 1904 the Canadian Northern Railway had come through, along with the telegraph. The first church went up in 1905, followed by a general store and lumberyard in 1906 and a post office in February 1907. A hotel was built in 1909, and the Englefeld school district was formed. In 1910 the first grain elevator, a livery barn and the first fully graded roads appeared. A railway station and community hall followed in 1912, electric lighting arrived in 1915, and the telephone came in 1916. Englefeld incorporated as a village on June 13, 1916.
Today the village is known for its Hog Fest, first organized by Father Florian Renneberg in 1972. The 40th event, held over the July long weekend in 2011, drew 1,270 people for Canada Day fireworks, a carnival and farmers market, a feast of 16 smoked pigs and a closing pancake breakfast. For the 25th Hog Fest in 1996, a fiberglass pig 7 feet tall and 17 feet long was set atop the Koenders Manufacturing building along Highway 5.
Written from Wikipedia’s article “Englefeld, Saskatchewan” (CC BY-SA 4.0), and shared under the same licence.