Star-Phoenix Clock, Saskatoon

Standing at the corner of 5th Avenue and 24th Street in downtown Saskatoon, the Star-Phoenix Clock is more than just a timekeeper-it's a legacy cast in iron. Erected on October 6, 1920, this 15-foot-tall, double-faced street clock was commissioned by newspaper co-owner W.F. "Bill" Herman in memory of his business partner Talmage Lawson, who was killed in action during World War I. Lawson had co-owned the Saskatoon Daily Star, and after the war, the Star merged with the Phoenix to form the Star-Phoenix, the city’s enduring daily newspaper.

Crafted by the famed Seth Thomas Clock Company, pioneers in tower clockmaking, the structure originally stood outside the paper’s office on 20th Street. It featured a mechanical mechanism powered by a massive counterweight that had to be cranked manually each week. In 1967, when the Star-Phoenix moved headquarters, the clock came with it-eventually finding its current home in 1979. During the move, it was restored, repainted in a greenish-blue hue, and modernized with an electric motor and heaters to withstand Saskatoon’s winters.

The clock’s design includes ornate cast ironwork, two large faces facing east and west, and a brass plaque honoring Lawson, who died near Kemmel, Belgium, in 1915. For decades, a large thermometer also adorned its front. Though its internal workings were once removed and nearly lost to scrap, a technician and a local watchmaker retrieved them-an act symbolic of the city’s attachment to this quiet memorial.

Today, the Star-Phoenix Clock remains a protected heritage property, recognized not only for its craftsmanship but also as Saskatoon’s earliest monument to a fallen soldier-a time-honored tribute to sacrifice, remembrance, and the city’s journalistic past.