Rural Municipality of Argyle

Argyle
Argyle
Rural municipality
	Rural Municipality of Argyle
	Location of Argyle in Manitoba
	Coordinates: 49°22′11″N 99°09′2″W / 49.36972°N 99.15056°W
Country	Canada
Province	Manitoba
Provincial riding	Turtle Mountain
Region	Pembina Valley
Incorporated	August 15, 1881
Named after	John Campbell, 9th Duke of Argyll
Area
• Total	770.44 km2 (297.47 sq mi)
Population (2016)
• Total	1,025
Time zone	UTC-6 (CST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-5 (CDT)
Website	www.rmofargyle.ca

The Rural Municipality of Argyle is a rural municipality in southwestern Manitoba, Canada. Incorporated on 15 August 1881, it is named after John Campbell, 9th Duke of Argyll who was the fourth Governor General of Canada.

Baldur is the largest community in the municipality, which sits between Brandon and Portage la Prairie. Part of Rock Lake can also be found in the municipality.

Argyle is also home to the oldest standing Icelandic Lutheran Church in Canada, built in 1889.^[1]^[2]

Communities

History

In August 1880, two men from the New Iceland region of Manitoba, Sigurdur Kristofersson (or Chistopherson) and Kristjan Jonsson, set out westward to see their friend who had settled in Pilot Mound. On their way, Kristofersson and Jonsson came across an area of rolling prairie grass with small lakes which had no settlers besides two men who lived in a tent.^[3]

Kristofersson filed entry for the first homestead in what would later become the RM of Argyle. He named his farm Grund, Icelandic for 'grassy plain'. Kristofersson was soon joined by several other families, and made several trips back to Iceland, encouraging many fellow Icelanders to immigrate to his new homeland.^[3]

The rural municipality was incorporated on 15 August 1881 and is named after John Campbell, 9th Duke of Argyll, who was the fourth Governor General of Canada.^[4]

On July 26, 1885, a new congregation named Frelsis ('Liberty') was formed.^[3] In 1889, the congregation erected its Lutheran Church at Grund.^[1]^[3]

Also in 1889, in response to the Northern Pacific and Manitoba Railway's proposal of a line that would pass through the centre of Argyle to link Morris with Brandon, the towns of Greenway and Belmont were established. However, this left a large stretch of land without service.^[3]

With significant demand for a station to be located between Greenway and Belmont, the town of Baldur was established in 1890.^[3]^[5]

On March 16, 1906, a portion of Argyle was divided into the Rural Municipality of Strathcona, later forming the RM of Prairie Lakes.^[4]

Between 1964 and 1965, the Frelsis congregation joined Baldur Immanuel Lutheran Church.^[1] With the Frelsis building being the oldest-standing Icelandic Lutheran Church in Canada by this time, community members requested the provincial government to designate the church as a historic site. The government followed through on September 15, 1974.^[3]

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Argyle had a population of 994 living in 398 of its 515 total private dwellings, a change of -3% from its 2016 population of 1,025. With a land area of 768.63 km² (296.77 sq mi), it had a population density of 1.3/km² (3.3/sq mi) in 2021.^[6]

Notable people

Chris Fridfinnson — ice hockey player, born in Baldur
Hallgrímur Fr. Hallgrímsson — Icelandic businessman, who went to high school in Baldur.
Tom Johnson — Hockey Hall of Famer, born in Baldur
Bill Stilwell — award-winning author and naturalist, born in Baldur

Politicians

Walter Clark — politician and farmer, raised and lived in Baldur
Irving Cleghorn — Scottish-Canadian politician who operated a pharmacy in Baldur prior to taking office
Donald Craik — provincial cabinet minister, born in Baldur and raised in Greenway
Ivan Schultz — provincial cabinet minister, born in Baldur
John A. Mabon — a farmer from Neelin, who served as Reeve of Argyle in 1952 and later unsuccessfully ran as an independent candidate for Mountain in 1953.