Boissevain, Manitoba

The community was originally named Cherry Creek in 1881, the post office was opened in the town in 1886 and was named after Adolphe Boissevain, senior member of the firm Boissevain and Company who introduced Canadian Pacific Railway shares for sale in Europe.{{cite book |title=Geographical Names of Manitoba |url= https://www.gov.mb.ca/sd/pubs/forest_lands/cdgnm.pdf |publisher= Government of Manitoba |page=67 |date=2002 |access-date=February 1, 2024}} The community's school district was originally named Nimitau in 1886 when it was founded, but the name changed to Boissevain in 1894.

Work began along the anticipated route of the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1874, surveyors were impressed with the Turtle Mountain region and noted it would become a chief point of settlement in the coming years.{{cite web |title= Manitoba History: Historical Tour - Boissevain, Manitoba |url=http://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/mb_history/20/boissevain.shtml |publisher=Manitoba Historical Society |access-date=2016-05-11}} The site of the town of Boissevain was decided by the CPR in 1885. By 1886 there was a blacksmith shop, a post office and two grain warehouses.

As pioneer life transitioned to the comforts of a growing town, many new buildings, schools and churches were built. One of the prominent buildings constructed was the St. Matthew's Anglican Church, built with granite walls found in the local fields. Sandstone was also discovered nearby by the earlier surveyors. The sandstone was used to construct another place of worship and local landmark, the St. Paul's United Church which was completed in 1893.

Like many towns in the west, Boissevain's prosperity came with the railway, in this case the CPR line was the first to arrive in 1885. Three other additional railways in the area, including the Great Northern Railway through the railway's subsidiary organized under the name of the "Brandon, Saskatchewan and Hudson Bay Railway", which meant that farmers could now ship their goods to the United States in the south while also having a link with Brandon to the north. The railways began to decline during The Great Depression and with it the fortunes of Boissevain. The Great Northern line ended service in 1936.

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Boissevain had a population of 1,577 living in 700 of its 736 total private dwellings, a change of {{percentage|{{#expr:1577-1656}}|1656|1}} from its 2016 population of 1,656. With a land area of {{cvt|2.9|km2}}, it had a population density of {{Pop density|1577|2.9|km2|sqmi|prec=1}} in 2021.{{cite web | url=https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/cv.action?pid=9810001201 | title=Population and dwelling counts: Canada and designated places | publisher=Statistics Canada | date=February 9, 2022 | access-date=Sep 3, 2022}}

Boissevain School was nominated as one of Canada's 30 best schools by Maclean's Magazine in 2005.{{cite news |title=150 Facts about Boissevain |author=Paul Rayner |url=https://therecorder.ca/images/eeditions/bre_20170630_lookingback.pdf |website=The Boissevain Recorder |date=June 30, 2017 |access-date=2020-12-22}}

CJRB (1220 AM) broadcasts an easy listening format from Boissevain. The station is owned by Golden West Broadcasting.

Curling has been a competitive sport in Boissevain since 1890. The Boissevain Border Kings compete in the South West Hockey League in Manitoba. The Border Kings did not win a championship for 35 years but then wound up winning six straight championships in 1993. In baseball, the Boissevain Bantams won the provincial championship in 1977. Currently, the Boissevain Broncos high school sports program includes several teams competing in football, baseball, and hockey.

• John A. Campbell, politician
• Bill Crump, Anglican bishop
• Edward Dow, politician
• Betty Fox, mother of Terry Fox
• David R. Henderson, economist
• John Hettle, politician
• Zoe Hicks, softball and baseball player
• James Johnson, politician
• Reuben Martin, politician
• George William McDonald, politician
• Norah Michener, philosopher
• Randy Neufeld, curler
• Rick Neufeld, musician
• Frederick Laurence Schaffner, politician

• International Peace Garden Border Crossing

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{{Wikivoyage|Boissevain}}

{{Commons category}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20121119171036/http://www.boissevain.ca/ Boissevain community website]
• [http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2011/dp-pd/prof/details/page.cfm?Lang=E&Geo1=POPC&Code1=0078&Geo2=PR&Code2=13&Data=Count&SearchText=&SearchType=Begins&SearchPR=01&B1=All&Custom=&TABID=1 Stats Canada - Census Profile]
• [http://geodepot.statcan.ca/GeoSearch2006/GeoSearch2006.jsp?resolution=H&lang=E&otherLang=F&census=Yes&DisplayData=Yes&NewImage=yes&layer=csd&IdentName=Boissevain%20(T)&IdentUID=4605033 Map of Boissevain at Statcan] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120918031947/http://geodepot.statcan.ca/GeoSearch2006/GeoSearch2006.jsp?resolution=H&lang=E&otherLang=F&census=Yes&DisplayData=Yes&NewImage=yes&layer=csd&IdentName=Boissevain%20(T)&IdentUID=4605033 |date=2012-09-18 }}

{{Adjacent communities|

North=Brandon|

Northeast=Glenboro|

Northwest=Souris
Hartney |

West=Deloraine|

Center=Boissevain|

East=Killarney|

South=Turtle Mountain Provincial Park|

Southeast=Holmfield|

Southwest=Goodlands}}

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{{Manitoba}}

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Category:Former towns in Manitoba

Category:Populated places disestablished in 2015

Category:2015 disestablishments in Manitoba