History
The area was most likely inhabited by Aboriginals, or First Peoples, before European settlers began to arrive prior to 1850. In September of 1738, after the Fur Trade had extended into the West, Pierre Gaultier de Varennes, sieur de La Verendrye (a French Canadian explorer and fur trader) built Fort La Reine north of the Assiniboine River to serve as a fur trading post, and provide the explorers with a "home" operating base, from which they would explore other parts of Central Manitoba and Western North America.
In 1851, Archdeacon Cochrane of the Anglican Church, John McLean, as well as other ambitious settlers, were among the first to purchase the first land in the area from the local Aboriginals, around what is now Crescent Lake (formerly known as "The Slough"). A school was soon built as settlers poured in from the East, followed by a church (St. Mary's La Prairie, 1854), and numerous local businesses as the community began to form. The fertile soils of the Portage la Prairie area were discovered in the 1850s, giving birth to the future agriculturally-based economy of the village; Archdeacon Cochrane encouraged people to start growing crops and gardens on their properties to fulfill the needs of the growing food demand. A local government was formed in 1857, and by the 1860s, there were sixty homes situated in the community.
The 1870s was a decade of rapid growth, as many more settlers moved to Portage, establishing farms and opening new businesses. By this time, the village had an operating flour mill, a local newspaper, and a community fair; just to name a few of Portage's highlights. From the 1870s to the 1880s, the community increased in population by approximately 10 times (300-3,000). Freight and supplies were transported by ox-cart and steamboat until the arrival of the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1881, the year Portage was incorporated as a town (Thomas Collins was the first mayor of Portage la Prairie).
In 1907, Portage was incorporated as a city, and from that point on, managed to keep a gradual rate of growth and development, serving as a regional hub for agriculture, retail, manufacturing and transportation in Central Manitoba.
The name is derived from the French word portage, which means to carry a canoe overland between waterways. In this case the "portage" was between the Assiniboine River and Lake Manitoba, over la prairie.
| Historical populations | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Pop. | ±% |
| 1891 | 3,363 | — |
| 1901 | 3,901 | +16.0% |
| 1911 | 5,892 | +51.0% |
| 1921 | 6,766 | +14.8% |
| 1931 | 6,597 | −2.5% |
| 1941 | 7,095 | +7.5% |
| 1951 | 8,511 | +20.0% |
| 1961 | 12,388 | +45.6% |
| 1971 | 12,950 | +4.5% |
| 1981 | 13,086 | +1.1% |
| 1991 | 13,186 | +0.8% |
| 2001 | 12,976 | −1.6% |
| 2006 | 12,728 | −1.9% |
| 2011 | 12,996 | +2.1% |
Read more about this topic: Portage La Prairie
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