Edam was established in 1907 as a hamlet, and it takes its name from the city of Edam in the Netherlands. The story goes that the name Amsterdam was first put forward, but the Saskatchewan Government Office turned it down as too long. That origin is why the village is known as a "Little piece of Holland in Saskatchewan."
The site was chosen to take advantage of the Canadian Northern Railway line running through it. Edam incorporated as a village on October 12, 1911, and the railway station was completed in 1912. The Canadian Northern became part of the Canadian National Railway in 1923. In March 2008 the station was recognized as a Municipal Heritage Property by Saskatchewan and added to the Canadian Register of Historic Places.
Three years after the station was finished, Chinese immigrant Charlie Chan opened a two-storey building with a café on the main floor and hotel rooms upstairs. The businesses operated until 1986. The Edam Café building was recognized as a Municipal Heritage Property and added to the Canadian Register of Historic Places in June 2005.
Written from Wikipedia’s article “Edam, Saskatchewan” (CC BY-SA 4.0), and shared under the same licence.