Gretna is an unincorporated urban community in the Municipality of Rhineland within the Canadian province of Manitoba that held town status prior to January 1, 2015. Just north of the Canada - United States border on PTH 30, Gretna had a population of 541 in 2016. [1]
It is bordered by Pembina County, North Dakota. The nearest American community to Gretna is Neche, North Dakota.
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Once home to roaming Buffalo herds, the area around Gretna attracted European settlers as far back as the early 19th century. Originally, Gretna was only known as "Smuggler's Point", a simple border crossing where the flow of undeclared goods were smuggled over the border by early settlers and fur trappers. Soon after establishing the 49th parallel as the international border, Gretna became an important customs centre and border community for both the Canadian and American governments.
Gretna's strategic geographic location raised the interest of the Canadian Pacific Railway which encouraged the creation of large grain elevator operations in the area. The Ogilvie Milling Company was one of the first and most prominent private companies in Gretna around the turn of the 20th century. It is believed company founder William Ogilvie, originally from Scotland, named Gretna after Gretna Green in Scotland, also a border community, where runaway couples were married by the blacksmith at his anvil.
In 1889, Mennonite Collegiate Institute, a private high school, opened in Gretna.
In 1897, Gretna and area was visited by Russian prince and anarchist Peter Kropotkin who praised the local Mennonites for their industriousness and communal lifestyle. [2]
Gretna soon became a prominent border community. As businesses thrived and expanded, Gretna life in the early 20th century was filled with promise and opportunity. As progress would have it, changes afforded Gretna no favours and the community began losing the grain milling industry responsible for its boom. After World War II, Gretna became the centre for oil transfer to the United States of America. Enbridge Pipelines Inc. (the main storage and transfer company of oil in southern Manitoba) which has been, and continues to be, a supporting member of Gretna.
In 2013, the Provincial NDP Government legislated Manitoba communities under the population of 1000 must amalgamate with their nearest neighbouring municipality with a deadline of 2015. Gretna lost its local government as a result and governmental control was passed to the RM of Rhineland, now the Municipality of Rhineland.
Gretna's history repeatedly reveals how this rural community has survived many changes and disasters. It continues to draw young families looking for that comfortable mix between rural and urban; the comfort of small town living with the necessary amenities and close proximity to larger centres.
On June 4 2021, Gretna reached a temperature of 41.3 °C (106.3 °F), the highest recorded temperature in Manitoba since the 1980s and the earliest in the year occurrence of above 40 °C (104 °F) temperatures in Canada. [3]
In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Gretna had a population of 511 living in 197 of its 210 total private dwellings, a change of -5.5% from its 2016 population of 541. With a land area of 2.71 km2 (1.05 sq mi), it had a population density of 188.6/km2 (488.4/sq mi) in 2021. [4]
Emerson is a former provincial electoral division in the Canadian province of Manitoba. It was created by redistribution in 1879 and eliminated prior the 2019 general election. Most of its territory was redistributed to the newly created Borderland riding. The eastern part of the former riding was transferred to the La Verendrye riding.
Winkler is a city in Manitoba, Canada with a population of 13,745, making it the 4th largest city in Manitoba, as of the 2021 Canadian census. It is located in southern Manitoba, surrounded by the Rural Municipality of Stanley, about one hundred kilometres southwest of Winnipeg and thirteen kilometres east of its "twin city" Morden. As the largest city in the Pembina Valley, it serves as a regional hub for commerce, agriculture and industry. Winkler is the third-fastest growing city in the province after Morden and Steinbach.
Morden is a city located in the Pembina Valley region of southern Manitoba, Canada near the United States border. It is about 11 km (6.8 mi) west of the neighbouring city of Winkler; together Morden and Winkler are often referred to as Manitoba's Twin Cities. Morden, which is surrounded by the Rural Municipality of Stanley, is the eighth largest and fastest-growing city in Manitoba. According to Statistics Canada, the city had a population of 9,929 in 2021, an increase of 14.5% from 2016, making it Manitoba's fastest growing city.
Altona is a town in southern Manitoba, Canada, about 100 km south-west of Winnipeg and 158 km north of Grand Forks, North Dakota. The population at the 2011 Census was 4,123 residents. Old Altona was founded in 1880 by Plautdietsch-speaking Mennonites from the Russian Empire. It is surrounded by the Municipality of Rhineland. Much of the surrounding area is devoted to farming and agriculture-based business.
Schanzenfeld is a small hanlet community in the Rural Municipality of Stanley, Manitoba, Canada, located about 2 miles south of the City of Winkler. Largely a Mennonite community.
Plum Coulee is an unincorporated urban community in the Municipality of Rhineland within the Canadian province of Manitoba that held town status prior to January 1, 2015. It is west of Altona, one hour southwest of Winnipeg and 22 kilometres from the United States border. It is also the former home to the Plum Coulee Xpress hockey club. It has an artificial beach located in town called Sunset Beach.
Reinfeld is an Unincorporated Urban Community (UUC) in the Rural Municipality of Stanley in the Pembina Valley region of Manitoba, Canada, about one km east of Winkler. Mainly a Mennonite community, its relative vicinity to Winkler makes it a possible candidate to become a suburb in the future.
Morris is a small town in the Pembina Valley region of Manitoba, Canada, located 51 km south of Winnipeg and 42 km north of Emerson. Morris is home to 1,885 people (2016). Named after Alexander Morris, the second Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba.
Rosenort, Manitoba, is an unincorporated community recognized as a local urban district within the Rural Municipality of Morris about 17 kilometres from the town of Morris and about 47 kilometres south of Winnipeg.
Jacob (Jake) John Siemens was a Canadian farmer, co-operative leader, social entrepreneur, and adult educator. Born and raised a Mennonite near Altona, Manitoba, Siemens taught for 10 years before taking over the family farm in 1929. With the onset of the Great Depression he played a key role in the emergence of the dynamic co-operative movement in southern Manitoba. Since he understood his work as an expression of Christian love, it ignited controversy within the Mennonite community. In his later years he left the Mennonite community and moved to Winnipeg, where he ran for office as a candidate for the New Democratic Party. On his death in 1963 he was buried at a Unitarian church.
Division No. 3 is a census division located within the Pembina Valley Region in the south-central region of the province of Manitoba, Canada. Unlike in some other provinces, census divisions do not reflect the organization of local government in Manitoba. These areas exist solely for the purposes of statistical analysis and presentation; they have no government of their own.
The Rural Municipality of Rhineland is a former rural municipality (RM) in the Canadian province of Manitoba. Since 1876, the area made up part of the Mennonite West Reserve. The R.M. of Rhineland was originally incorporated as a rural municipality on February 14, 1880 and later absorbed the neighbouring RM of Douglas in January 1891. It ceased on January 1, 2015 as a result of its provincially mandated amalgamation with the towns of Gretna and Plum Coulee to form the Municipality of Rhineland.
Stanley is a rural municipality (RM) in the province of Manitoba in Western Canada. It is located in the southern part of the province, along its border with the state of North Dakota in the United States. Since 1876, the area made up part of the Mennonite West Reserve. The municipality has a population of 8,969 as of the 2016 Canada Census. The cities of Winkler and Morden lie geographically within the municipality but are separate urban municipalities.
Reinland is a Mennonite village in Manitoba located in the Rural Municipality of Stanley, about ten minutes south of Winkler and about five minutes north of U.S. border. Its population numbers about five hundred, with an agrarian economy.
Friedensfeld West, locally known as Friedensfeld, is a small hamlet in the Rural Municipality of Stanley, Manitoba, Canada. It is located south of Winkler along Manitoba Highway 32, about 8 kilometers north of the Canada–United States border.
Neubergthal is an unincorporated rural community and a National Historic Site of Canada in the Municipality of Rhineland, Manitoba, Canada. Neubergthal was founded in 1876 as a Mennonite community with settlers who came from the Bergthal Colony in Russia. The historic site encompassed six sections of land and the village was laid out in traditional long narrow farmsteads. The village is famous for its traditional Mennonite housebarns and other historic buildings.
Enoch Winkler was a farmer, merchant and political figure in Manitoba. He represented Rosenfeldt from 1888 to 1899 in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba as a Liberal.
The Municipality of Rhineland is a rural municipality (RM) in the Canadian province of Manitoba. The RM had a population of 5,945 as of the 2016 Canada Census. The average age in the municipality is 31.
The Walhalla–Winkler Border Crossing connects the town of Walhalla, North Dakota and the city of Winkler, Manitoba on the Canada–United States border. North Dakota Highway 32 on the American side joins Manitoba Highway 32 on the Canadian side.
The Neche–Gretna Border Crossing connects the cities of Neche, North Dakota and Gretna, Manitoba on the Canada–United States border. North Dakota Highway 18 on the American side joins Manitoba Highway 30 on the Canadian side. The Alberta Clipper pipeline crosses the border nearby.
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