The Canadian Pacific Railway came through Fife Lake Saskatchewan in 1926, on its way from Assiniboia to Coronach. A townsite was laid out at this time, and it became a village two years later. The railway line is still in use as the Fife Lake Railway and operated under contract by the Great Western Railway.

“I bought the hotel in 1974, I think it was December 1st. And it was an old hotel, I was gone for 13 years and I came back and my dad farmed out here…being stupid, I came in and made an offer and I got it.” – Lawson.

The town’s population is about two dozen, and this is the smallest community with a hotel that has been visited by the Beer Parlour Project thus far. In contrast, back in 1981 (the oldest record we could find), it stood at about 80. That is a steady decline. Fife Lake has since lost village status and is now a hamlet.

There are more people on nearby farms and ranches but, still, not that many. That the hotel can survive in such an out of the way place and with such a small local population is incredible. They must be on to something good here and based on our experience, that is a yes.

“I got this crazy notion to buy a hotel and here we are 50 years later. In 1974 it was a filthy little place.” – Lawson.

The Fife Lake Hotel dates from 1928 and it was the only business of this type that ever operated here. In the early days the there were a number of other stores in here “downtown” Fife Lake, including a drug store with resident doctor, lumber yards, grain elevators, a general store, churches, restaurants and a laundry.

An old aerial photo dating from the 1960s found during research shows many of the lots in downtown had stores and businesses. Now many are empty.

By 1978, when the local history book was published, numerous businesses still operated here and now with only the hotel left, there is one. Owner Lawson celebrated 50 years on the job in 2024 and was working here at that time the book came out.

“Yeah, we’ve been married 48 years…I met her down at a party down in the States.” – Lawson (speaking of him and Gail meeting soon after he bought the hotel).

The Fife Lake Hotel also functions as a small convenience store of sorts, offering snacks and smokes. Lawson and partner Gail live next door and have been toying with idea of retiring (what, so soon?). The couple hopes to eventually find someone to take over so that they can retire.

A photo (1970s?) found embedded into a table (decoupaged photo-collages are a thing at these old hotels) shows it looking much as it does today. It is likely not all that much different from when built. The single story addition off the bar was added in more recent times but that appears to be it for exterior modifications.

“You didn’t get a seat in here after six o’clock at night. All I did was serve drinks and break up fights. Five, six fights a night. You got lots of bloody noses and stuff…it was boilermakers and ironworkers. And they hated one another.” – Lawson (1970s – speaking workers coming in from the coal mine and powerplant being built nearby).

The Fife Lake Hotel presently has five standard rooms, some with the traditional central bathroom at the end of the hall setup and a couple deluxe suites. All have been renovated and while small by today’s standards, they are tidy, comfy and cozy.

At the time of our visit in June 2024 all the rooms were full. The Poplar River Coal Mine and Power Station nearby was in the midst of a maintenance shutdown and the Fife Lake Hotel accommodated some of the out of town crews.

The Do-It-Yourself Steak Pit is hugely popular and during the summer there can be a line up waiting to get in. We enjoyed our meal and it made the visit all the more memorable. A sign out on the highway states they have the best steaks in town and that is yet to be challenged.

“I put the first bill up. It says on the very top, The Boss. And then it went from there. I’ve got fifties up there. There’s a few twenties, really old. A few really old ones. There’s some other countries. I can tell you what most of the bills are. People go on holidays and they come back and they put a bill on the wall. It’s nice.” – Lawson (speaking of the money wall).

The yearly TeleMiracle auction held here is well attended and brings in lots of money for charity. Lawson and Gail are community minded.

The wall of money is quite the spectacle and started off innocently enough, but has grown to take over most of the bar. One bill was placed by Lawson in the early 1980s (and marked “The Boss”) and soon others were added by patrons. Each year more and more are posted. One or two dollar bills have made way to fivers as the smaller denominations are discontinued.

There is some odd stuff too – a 25c bill (Shinplaster) for example and a few bills from the US or other countries.

They are usually signed, dated and the hometown sometimes listed. All the way from Ontario? Up from the US? Some display a shout-out to a friend and others have personal messages. There must be thousands of dollars worth up there and if it continues to grow at this rate, they are going to run out of space.

The hamlet of Fife Lake shares its name with a large prairie lake just to the west. It is shallow and an important bird habitat. Rockin’ Beach Regional Park at the south end is a popular recreational spot for locals.

“The only way you can get rich in this area is win the lotto. Or be really good at hockey. Fife Lake had about seven players went into Junior A and NHL.” – Lawson (on the sometimes meagre income made running a hotel).

Fife Lake, Saskatchewan: Population about 25 and located in the Rural Municipality of Poplar Valley No. 12 about 150km south of Moose Jaw. The town is not far from the US border.