St. Laurent, Manitoba
| St. Laurent | |
|---|---|
 St. Laurent
|
|
| Coordinates: 50°24′46″N 97°56′27″W / 50.41278°N 97.94083°WCoordinates: 50°24′46″N 97°56′27″W / 50.41278°N 97.94083°W | |
| Country |
 Canada
|
| Province |
 Manitoba
|
| Region | Interlake |
| Census Division | No. 18 |
| Government | |
| • Governing Body | Rural Municipality of St. Laurent Council |
| • MP | James Bezan |
| • MLA | Thomas G. Nevakshonoff |
| Area | |
| • Total | 465.62 km2 (179.78 sq mi) |
| Population | |
| • Total | 1,305 |
| • Density | 2.8/km2 (7/sq mi) |
| Time zone | CST (UTC−6) |
| • Summer (DST) | CDT (UTC−5) |
| Postal Code | R0C 2S0 |
| Area code(s) | 204 |
| NTS Map | 062I05 |
| GNBC Code | GAXYM |
St. Laurent (French St-Laurent) is an unincorporated community in Manitoba, located on the eastern shore of Lake Manitoba and serviced by Manitoba Highway 6. It lies within the boundaries of the Rural Municipality of St. Laurent and is 95 km (59 miles) from Winnipeg.
As described in the mid-1980s, the community of around 1.000 people lacked a single townsite, and was instead more like an Old World chain village, as the land was originally divided by the French river lot system (a number of long, narrow farm fields along a central road on the lakeshore), rather than the geometrical patterns of the Dominion Land Survey in much of the rest of Manitoba. The land is primarily glacial till with limited potential for agriculture, though farming does occur in the community. The climate is continental with extreme variation between seasons.
Ojibwa language name for this territory is Aggaamaakwaa which means "at the grand opening". It was named as such because this territorial area had a large cleared area, with no trees. Oral historians recorded people still using this name for the community in the 1970s. Another early name for the community was Fond du Lac. The post office opened as Indian Mission in 1872 and changed to St. Laurent in 1873.
European exploration of the region goes back at least to La Vérendrye who explored the area in the 1730s. The first Métis settlement in the area began in 1824 with a group arriving from Pembina. The area was known as a fishing site for the Saulteaux and Métis peoples when the first Roman Catholic priests visited in 1826.
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