The settlement was first known as Bonnington Springs, Assinboia, North West Territories but usually referred to as “Bonnington”.  In late 1905, when Saskatchewan became a province, the name was changed to “Kenaston”, honoring F.E. Kenaston, who was the Vice President of the Saskatchewan Valley Land Company. 

The railroad reached Bonnington in late 1889, but there is no record of any permanent residents until 1902.  In this year, the Saskatchewan Valley Land Company was formed, made up of wealthy men from the States.  The president was Col. A.D. Davidson and one of his associates was F.E. Kenaston, who was head of the Minneapolis Threshing Machine Company. 

The Saskatchewan Valley Land Company purchased 839,000 acres of land from the railway for $1.53 an acre and another 250,000 acres from the Dominion Government for $1.00 an acre.  By adopting spectacular methods of advertising and employing dozens of land agents, the wide open spaces between Regina and Saskatoon were peopled with hundreds of settlers in the time between 1902 and 1910.

Needs of settlers created a necessity for business places and the settlement grew and was incorporated as a village in July 1910.  The Kenaston School opened its doors to its first fourteen pupils in August of 1905, while the town was still officially known as Bonnington. The first store was built in 1903,  the post office and hotel were established in 1904, the first telephone installed in 1909, and the first of Kenaston’s grain elevator was built in 1906 by the Canadian Elevator Company. In 1910, the 40,000 gallon water tower was built by CNR in proximity to the train station and just across from the first hotel. 

See Water Tower Reconstruction Photos