The community was established in 1887, just before the arrival of the Manitoba and Northwestern Railway in 1888; a post office was opened when rail service began. In 1894, Saltcoats was the first village incorporated in the
North-West Territories as they then were. The town was originally named 'Stirling', but when the railway arrived the name was changed to Saltcoats, after
Saltcoats,
Scotland, the birthplace of a major railway shareholder and the home port of Allen Steam-ship Lines which brought over many of the immigrants from the
British Isles that settled in the region. In 1902, 208 Welsh settlers (44 families) fleeing unfavourable conditions in
Welsh Patagonia came to Saltcoats, but within a generation their community lost its cultural cohesion and melted into the English-speaking cultural matrix. == Demographics ==