Polonia is an unincorporated community in the

Rural Municipality of Rosedale Rosedale is a rural municipality in the province of Manitoba in Western Canada. The southeast corner of Riding Mountain National Park overlaps the northwest corner of the RM, and comprises about one-sixth of Rosedale's territory. The Town of N ...

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

, Canada. It is located north-east of

Brandon, Manitoba Brandon () is the second-largest city in the province of Manitoba, Canada. It is located in the southwestern corner of the province on the banks of the Assiniboine River, approximately west of the provincial capital, Winnipeg, and east of the ...

Etymology

Initially, named Hungarian Valley, the name was later shortened to Hun's Valley. The name came from the original settlers, many of whom were of Hungarian origin, who were reminded of their homeland. In 1921, in response to the influx of

Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, who share a common history, culture, the Polish language and are identified with the country of Poland in Ce ...

, the name was changed to Polonia, the Latin form of

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

. The valley which runs through the area was formally named Huns Valley in 1977.

History

The settlement was established in 1885 by 38 families led by Count Géza S. de Döry, a Hungarian nobleman and agricultural expert, under the auspices of Count Paul Esterházy. These 38 families were recruited from the eastern mining region of

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

and were of Hungarian, Slovak and

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places *Czech, ...

extraction. More than half of the original families did not homestead in the area and instead left to seek work elsewhere. Those who did remain were joined by a second smaller group that arrived from Pennsylvania that year. By the end of 1885, 17 colonists representing 43 individuals had filed homestead entries and began to work the land. In 1886, a post office was opened. In 1887, the first school was built, later being replaced in 1911 and again in 1934 after the previous building was destroyed by fire. In 1887-88, a small Roman Catholic church was built, later replaced by the current St. Elizabeth of Hungary church in 1902. By 1893, 122 people from 29 families resided in the colony. After 1895 with the death of de Döry, most of the original colonists would leave, being replaced by Polish settlers.

References

{{reflist Unincorporated communities in Westman Region