Princess Harbour is a community in the Canadian province of

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 ...

. The village is on a small peninsula on the east shore of

Lake Winnipeg Lake Winnipeg (french: Lac Winnipeg, oj, ᐑᓂᐸᑲᒥᐠᓴᑯ˙ᑯᐣ, italics=no, Weenipagamiksaguygun) is a very large, relatively shallow lake in North America, in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Manitoba, Canada. I ...

. The community was originally named Rabbit Point and is still referred to as such by locals. Recognized as a community by the

Province of 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 ...

in 1972 under the Northern Affairs Act, the settlement does not have a political leader but rather it is represented by someone who is called a "contact person". The

Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC; french: Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson) is a Canadian retail business group. A fur trading business for much of its existence, HBC now owns and operates retail stores in Canada. The company's namesake business div ...

had a house at Rabbit Point through the mid to late 1800s. It was used as a place to stay while traveling through, but there are no records it was used for trading. The first mention of settler presence in the area began in 1890, and funeral and baptism records note the names of local families from then until present day. A store was built in the small settlement in 1934 and as the little community grew a school followed in 1939. The school changed its name from Princess Harbour School to the Dolly Magnusson School in 1982, the small school would eventually close in 1982. A coal oil fueled harbour light was maintained by the community as regulated by the government at the time.

Etymology

Though it is not known why the community was named Princess Harbour, local history books believe that the name is attributed to the SS Princess that sailed Lake Winnipeg at the turn of the 20th century. The name was not officially changed to Princess Harbour until 1952, when the community got its own post office. It's noted the change of name came as a result of confusion with another location named Rabbit Point or Rabbit Lake somewhere in Manitoba.

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; french: Statistique Canada), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and cultur ...

, Princess Harbour had a population of 0 living in 0 of its 0 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 5. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.

References

{{reflist Designated places in Manitoba Northern communities in Manitoba