Chapter 8: Southern Hamlets, Villages, and Towns

Introduction

Two factors—railway lines and the DLS system— influence the location and form of settlements in southern Manitoba. Most settlements are located on railway lines, and many have a characteristic T-shape with the bar of the T being a road that parallels the railway line and the stem being a major road at right angles to the line. This shape occurs in the smallest of hamlets (e.g. Coulter) as well as towns (e.g. Carberry) and cities (e.g. Brandon).

The arrangement can produce a road orientation that is at an angle to the squares of the DLS (e.g. Hartney and Dauphin). Other settlements have a road system that harmonizes with the DLS into which the urban pattern is slotted, with roads trending north/south and east/west (e.g. Rapid City and Shoal Lake). In a few cases the direction of the railway line is directly east/west or north/south so that roads that are parallel, and at right angles, to it also harmonize with the DLS. Other settlements have an older part in which roads are oriented with respect to the railway line and a newer part in which roads harmonize with the DLS (e.g. Holland and Elkhorn). Finally, a few newer settlements (Shilo, Wasagaming and Pinawa) have no direct connection with a railway line, nor do roads harmonize with the DLS, other factors such as natural features and the whim of planners determining road directions.