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Located one hour south of Regina, Dummer was never a huge community but for a time it was a thriving community. While the area had been settled for several years, the first post office to have the name Dummer appeared on Sept. 1, 1909 on the homestead of John Patterson. His wife served as postmistress at the location until 1912, followed by several postmasters over the years until service eventually stopped at the community. As for the name Dummer, that comes from the name of a township in Peterborough County in Ontario, which itself was organized in 1821.
As with most communities, the hamlet can owe its start thanks to the railroad. The railroad began to be constructed south of Moose Jaw in 1910 and continued moving south. By 1912, a railyard station was constructed at the Dummer site and an agent was installed at the station on Sept. 15, 1913.
For a time, Dummer was a thriving community with a business boom happening soon after the community was founded. By 1913, the community was thriving enough that a bank was built, which was authorized to be constructed by the Union Bank of Canada on Oct. 12, 1913. The bank would operate for the next ten years before it was closed for good. During its time, the bank had two managers, C.V. Henderson from 1913 to 1918 and B.T. Anderson from 1918 to 1923. Once the bank was closed, the building was used for a variety of purpose. It served as the high school for one year until 1924, then became a hall for dances and shows.
As with many other communities in Saskatchewan, Dummer had its fair share of elevators. After the town was created in 1909, the first elevator would be licensed in 1912 for a 30,000 bushel facility to be used by the Reliance Grain Company. A second grain elevator was built in 1913 for the Heywood Company, with a third elevator popping up in 1914 for the Alberta Pacific Grain Company.
Times were good early on for the community and in 1912 the community shipped out 300,000 bushels of crops. Through the 1930s, it is estimated 20 million bushels went through.
Unfortunately, the elevators in the community continued to change hands on a regular basis.
The Reliance Grain Company elevator would be lost to fire in 1924, but was replaced with a smaller elevator that same year. The Heywood Company elevator was sold in 1915 and by 1937 was being torn down by locals.
The Alberta Pacific Grain Company elevator, which was sold to the Saskatchewan Co-operative Elevator company in 1916, would burn down in 1956. A new 70,000 bushel elevator was built that same year and would stand into the 1980s, even helping to put out 428,000 bushels of grain in 1977. The elevator would close for good in 1987.
As with any community at the turn of the century, getting telephones installed was a major achievement. On Aug. 1, 1913, a meeting was held in the Dummer School to organize a telephone company. Within one month, 71 $5 shares were sold to farmers in the surrounding area and work began to install telephones in a 100-mile radius around the community. Rural telephones cost $12 per year for rental, and $12 per year in town, where six phones were located. The telephone's central office was located at the hotel where Richard Patterson worked as the first operator for a salary of $50.
Eventually, the Dummer Rural Telephone Company would serve 150 subscribers and things would go well until 1929 when The Great Depression hit. With a horrible crop year in 1931, it was decided that rental rates would drop to $6 per year beginning in 1932 and service would be cut down to only six hours per day. Throughout the 1950s, the system was upgraded and lines were rebuilt.
In 1963, with the company now losing money, the last operator would close the switchboard service in the community. The company itself would hold its last meeting in 1978.
Churches are always an important part of any community, and it did not take long for churches to pop up in Dummer once people started to settle in the community. Early on, church services were held in the homes of residents and at the school house. A manse, a home for a minister, was built in 1915 but attendance was quite low in the community. Only two people joined the church in 1917, with only 12 baptisms, four funerals and three weddings being held. As there was no church in the community, funeral services were held in the homes of the family who lost the loved one.
By 1934, church services became non-existent in the community and with no minister to do services, the manse was rented out to the postmaster and his wife. It was not until 1952 that regular church services in the community would start up again. In 1954, church services were happening in Dummer school.
