Manitoba Communities: Rapid City (Unincorporated Town)

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Population | Mayors / Reeves | Memorable Manitobans | Historic Sites | History Books | Maps | Contact Information | Sources

Until 1877, this community was named Ralstons Colony after John Ralston who had brought settlers here from Burritts Rapids, Ontario. When a formal name for the community was selected in 1877, Rapid City was chosen due to the fast-flowing Little Saskatchewan River nearby.

Present Status	Rural Municipality of Oakview (1 January 2015)
Incorporation History	Town of Rapid City (9 June 1883) Amalgamated of Rapid City, Blanshard and Saskatchewan (1 January 2015)
Land Area (square km)	5.38

Population

Year	Total
1891	543
1901	529
1906	738
1911	580
1916	658
1921	571
1926	513
1931	493
1936	447
1941	452
1946	402
1951	391
1956	434
1961	467
1966	449
1971	374
1976	412
1981	431
1986	447
1991	406
1996	408
2001	424
2006	416
2011	417

Mayors

Term	Mayor
1883-1887	?
1888	Sampson Leslie Head (1850-1941)
1889-1891	?
1892	James O. Ovas
1893-1895	Disorganized
1896	Malcolm Turriff (1849-1917) [receiver]
1897-1898	?
1899	John George Hindson (1848-1921)
1900-1902	Edmund Cecil Gosset Jackson (1862-1915)
1903	John George Hindson (1848-1921)
1904	George Little Stone (1858-?)
1905	Henry C. Clay (1881-?)
1906-1907	Thomas Johnston Butchart (1871-1954)
1908	Hugh H. Lockhart (1866-?)
1909-1910	Arthur Frederick LePage (1870-?)
1911	James Russell Burland (1856-?)
1912-1913	T. G. Millar
1914	Edmund Cecil Gosset Jackson (1862-1915)
1915-1916	Charles E. Cresswell
1917	Hugh H. Lockhart
1918-1919	W. E. Birkinshaw
1920-1921	J. M. Young
1922	John Flows
1923-1927	E. E. Riesberry
1928-1929	C. M. Beattie
1930-1932	C. Stone
1933-1935	D. G. McMillan
1936-1937	E. S. Gardiner
1938-1941	F. W. Swann
1942-1947	J. Wesley Rousell
1948-1953	E. G. R. Gardiner
1954-1957	J. Wesley Rousell
1958-1959	Rev. G. G. Harris
1960-1961	J. Wesley Rousell
1962-1963	Norman Macdonald Birkinshaw (1911-1986)
1964-1967	T. Turner
1968-1970	J. P. Carr
1971-1978	Harold E. Hyndman
1979-1980	?
1981-1983	Morris J. Stefaniuk
1983-1993	Lloyd D. “Tiny” Shelvey (1947-2010)
1993-1997	Harvey Wright
1998-2001	Harold E. Hyndman
2002-?	Terry Christie
?-2014	Orest Woloski
2015	See Oakview

Memorable Manitobans

Search the MHS collection of biographies for ones connected to Rapid City:

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Historic Sites

Go here for a list of historic sites in Rapid City.

History Books

Go here for a list of history books for Rapid City.

Photos & Maps

Sources

Geographic Names of Manitoba, Manitoba Conservation, 2000.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 19 April 2017