Gretna, Manitoba

Gretna is a former town in south-central Manitoba, Canada that is located within the Municipality of Rhineland. It is located just north of the Canada - United States border on PTH 30. As of 2006, the population of Gretna was 574.^[1]

It is bordered on the south it is bordered by Pembina County, North Dakota. The nearest American community to Gretna is Neche, North Dakota.

History

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.

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 the 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) has been and continues to be a supporting member of Gretna.

See also

• List of oil pipelines

References

External links

• Town of Gretna Community Profile
• Former Town of Gretna
• Map of Gretna at Statcan

Subdivisions of Manitoba Subdivisions Regions Census divisions Municipalities Communities Indian reserves Population centres Designated places Cities Brandon Dauphin Flin Flon Morden Portage la Prairie Selkirk Steinbach Thompson Winkler Winnipeg Towns Altona Arborg Beausejour Carberry Carman Churchill Gillam Grand Rapids Lac du Bonnet Leaf Rapids Lynn Lake Melita Minnedosa Morris Neepawa Niverville The Pas Powerview-Pine Falls Snow Lake Ste. Anne Swan River Teulon Virden Winnipeg Beach Former towns: Birtle Boissevain Deloraine Emerson Erickson Gilbert Plains Gladstone Grandview Gretna Hamiota Hartney MacGregor Manitou Minitonas Oak Lake Pilot Mound Plum Coulee Rapid City Rivers Roblin Rossburn Russell Souris Sainte Rose du Lac Treherne Villages Dunnottar St-Pierre-Jolys Former villages: Benito Binscarth Bowsman Cartwright Crystal City Elkhorn Ethelbert Glenboro McCreary Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes Riverton Somerset St. Claude St. Lazare Waskada Wawanesa Winnipegosis Portal:Manitoba

Coordinates: 49°00′28″N 97°33′42″W / 49.00778°N 97.56167°W / 49.00778; -97.56167