Ste. Agathe, Manitoba
Ste. Agathe is a primarily francophone community in the Rural Municipality of Ritchot, Manitoba, Canada, located along the Red River.
Ste. Agathe is in the provincial riding of Morris and the federal riding of Provencher.
History
The village was founded in the mid-19th century on one of the Red River Trails by settlers from Quebec named Grouette, who built a homestead on the west bank of the Red River and farmed grain in the rich soil of the valley. A dock allowed other settlers to reach the east side of the river via ferry with their grain-laden Red River carts; a community, originally called Pointe-à-Grouette, formed around the docking point at some time before 1871.The first mention of the name "Ste. Agathe" was some decades earlier, when the Roman Catholic Church organized the Red River colonies between St. Norbert and the United States border into the Parish of Sainte-Agathe. As that parish grew and split into numerous more manageable parishes, the parish containing Pointe-à-Grouette was renamed the Parish of Sainte-Agathe by Archbishop Alexandre-Antonin Taché in 1873; the town adopted the name at some time after that date. A church, a school, and eventually a convent were built at the townsite.