Blumenort () is a local urban district in the

Canadian province Canada has ten provinces and three territories that are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Constitution of Canada, Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British North Amer ...

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 ...

. It is located in the

Rural Municipality of Hanover The Rural Municipality of Hanover is a rural municipality (RM) in southeastern Manitoba, Canada, located southeast of Winnipeg in Division No. 2. It is Manitoba's most populous rural municipality and fourth-most populous municipality overall ...

, north of the city of Steinbach. It was founded in 1874 by

Plautdietsch Plautdietsch () or Mennonite Low German is a Low Prussian dialect of East Low German with Dutch influence that developed in the 16th and 17th centuries in the Vistula delta area of Royal Prussia. The word ''Plautdietsch'' translates to "fl ...

-speaking

Mennonite Mennonites are a group of Anabaptism, Anabaptist Christianity, Christian communities tracing their roots to the epoch of the Radical Reformation. The name ''Mennonites'' is derived from the cleric Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland, part of ...

farmers from the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

. Today, its economy is based on agriculture and the service industry.

Etymology

Blumenort comes from the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

''Blumenort'', meaning ''flower place''.

History

Prior to about 1870, south-eastern Manitoba, including the Blumenort area, were hunting, fishing, and trapping grounds used by the nomadic

Ojibway The Ojibwe (; Ojibwe writing systems#Ojibwe syllabics, syll.: ᐅᒋᐺ; plural: ''Ojibweg'' ᐅᒋᐺᒃ) are an Anishinaabe people whose homeland (''Ojibwewaki'' ᐅᒋᐺᐘᑭ) covers much of the Great Lakes region and the Great Plains, n ...

people. In 1871, the government began negotiating the articles of the Ojibway land claims for this region of Manitoba. After signing Treaty 1, the First Nations people of south-eastern Manitoba moved onto the Brokenhead and Rousseau River Reserves. Soon, the Canadian government surveyed the land and readied it for expansion by European settlers. In 1873,

-speaking

Mennonites Mennonites are a group of Anabaptism, Anabaptist Christianity, Christian communities tracing their roots to the epoch of the Radical Reformation. The name ''Mennonites'' is derived from the cleric Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland, part of ...

from the

sent a delegation to investigate land in North America. Four of the delegates decided to advise their people to settle in Manitoba and a Privilegium was signed between with the Canadian government. The document guaranteed Mennonites religious freedom, private school, military exemption and land that became known as the

East Reserve The East Reserve was a block settlement in Eastman Region, Eastern Manitoba initially set aside by the Government of Canada exclusively for settlement by Russian Mennonite settlers in 1873 (although settlement did not occur until 1874). Most of ...

. The East Reserve contained dozens of villages, only a few of which still exist today. One of those villages was Blumenort. The first Mennonite settlers were of the conservative Kleine Gemeinde church who founded Blumenort in the summer of 1874. In 1875, Blumenort consisted of 24 families, but had dropped to 18 by 1878. The original settlement form was the traditional

linear settlement A linear settlement is a (normally small to medium-sized) settlement or group of buildings that is formed in a long line. Many of these settlements are formed along a transport route, such as a road, river, or canal. Others form due to physical r ...

, or street village, of

-speaking

Russian Mennonite The Russian Mennonites ( it. "Russia Mennonites", i.e., Mennonites of or from the Russian Empire are a group of Mennonites who are the descendants of Dutch and North German Anabaptists who settled in the Vistula delta in West Prussia for about ...

s. A blacksmith shop was established in 1874, but the first store only opened in 1896. A cheese factory was built in 1892 and a milk skimming station in 1914, but the former closed by 1920. The street village began breaking up around 1904, a process which was completed by 1910, as the farmers disbursed to move onto the land they farmed and to seek new land elsewhere. Within a few years, little evidence of the former community remained, its street serving as a driveway for two farming families. In 1932, the farmers of the Blumenort area decided to build a cheese factory on a ridge, about a mile from the site of the former community, which brought further development. By 1940, there were 16 families and six businesses located along or near the mile road now called Blumenort's Centre Avenue. In 1947, a poultry-killing and processing plant opened. In 1962, a post office was opened and in 1971, a 12-room school was erected. By 1971, the population had grown to 275. Blumenort has continued to expand, growing to 1738 people by 2021, up from 1404 in 2011 and 1675 in 2016. The community provides a local elementary school as well as the Blumenort Community Church, an Evangelical Mennonite Conference Church and Hope Church Blumenort, a

non-denominational A non-denominational person or organization is one that does not follow (or is not restricted to) any particular or specific religious denomination. The term has been used in the context of various faiths, including Jainism, Baháʼí Faith, Zoro ...

Church.

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; ), 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 culture. It is headquartered in ...

, Blumenort had a population of 1,738 living in 564 of its 578 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 1,675. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.

Economy

Blumenort is supported by several local businesses including magazine companies, poultry producers, transport companies, and vehicle repair companies. In addition to this, because of its proximity to Steinbach, many people from Blumenort commute to Steinbach for shopping, work and sometimes school. As a small town in southern Manitoba, much of the commercial business is related to the agricultural sector and several dairy farms are located in and near the town of Blumenort.

Transportation

Blumenort is located on Manitoba Provincial Road 311, near its intersection with Provincial Trunk Highway 12. PTH 12 once passed through Blumenort, but now bypasses around the east side of the community.

Notable people

* Royden Loewen, historian

Etymology

History

Demographics

Economy

Transportation

Notable people

See also

References

Further reading