Gretna, Manitoba

Once home to roaming Buffalo herds, the area around Gretna attracted people as far back as the early 1800's. Originally, Gretna was only known as "Smuggler"s Point", a simple border crossing where the flow of undeclared goods were smuggled over the border by early settlers and fur trappers. 
Soon after establishing the 49th parallel as the international border, Gretna became an important customs centre and border town for both the Canadian and American governments.

Gretna’s strategic demographic location raised the interest of the Canadian Pacific Rail Road which encouraged the creation of large grain elevator operations in the area. The Ogilvie Milling Company was one of the first and most prominent private companies in Gretna around the turn of the century. It is believed company founder William Ogilvie, originally from Scotland, named Gretna after Gretna Green in Scotland, where runaway couples were married by the blacksmith at his anvil.

Gretna soon became a prominent border town. As businesses thrived and expanded, Gretna life in the early 1900’s was filled with promise and opportunity. As progress would have it, changes afforded Gretna no favours and the town began losing the grain milling industry responsible for its boom.

Today, Gretna has stood the trials and tests of time. With the recent ongoing expansion in the Pembina Valley, it now serves a young demographic attracted to its beautiful surroundings, friendly outreach and Community life that is safe for families. In addition to the growing number of local businesses, it's proximity to larger centres and the United States border crossing affords its citizens a living style and a diversity in services that are unparalleled anywhere else in the province.

http://www.gretna.ca/

External links

* [http://www.communityprofiles.mb.ca/cgi-bin/csd/index.cgi?id=4603038 Town of Gretna Community Profile]