In this summer series, The Citizen is taking a look at the unique history of each town in our corner of southeastern Manitoba. Let’s take some time to learn more about this beautiful part of the province we call home.
Like the rest of our region, the riverside community of St. Adolphe sits squarely on Treaty 1 territory, an expanse of land originally inhabited by the Anishinabe and Swampy Cree people who signed the treaty in 1871 and then left their homes to be relocated on reserves.1
The area was first settled by the Métis, prior to 1812. After the Hudson’s Bay Company and North West Company merged, more settlers came to the area. Following the floods of 1826 and 1852, the population began to rise. At that time, St. Adolphe was known as Point-Coupée, “Cut Point,” because it was surrounded on three sides by rivers. In the spring, the rising waters sometimes cut it off completely from the surrounding land.2 3
Pierre Delorme, a Métis fur trader and businessman, was born in St. Boniface in 1832. At the age of 20, he married Adélaide Millet, and together the couple bought Lot 21 in Point-Coupée. That was 1857. The Delormes built a log-framed two-story house on their new land, a house that would later come to serve as an important meeting place for the Métis leadership.4
“During the late 1860s, Louis Riel and the other Métis political leaders started meeting at Delorme’s home to strategize on their response to the planned transfer of Rupert’s Land to Canada,” reads a historical account compiled by Lawrence Barkwell. “Delorme took an active part in the Provisional Government and in 1870 was elected to the Convention of Forty as the member from Pointe-Coupée. In the first provincial election of December 1870 he was elected as MLA for St. Norbert. He was elected as a federal MP in 1871, for Provencher riding, defeated in the next election (1874) and re-elected in December of 1878 by acclamation.”5
Also in 1871, Delorme was elected as Captain of the Métis from Pointe-Coupée. This group was prepared to defend Manitoba against invaders from the United States.
After retiring from politics, Delorme returned to the area of St. Adolphe to work as a farmer and businessman. Upon his death, he was buried in the graveyard adjacent to the local Catholic Church.2 4
In 1857, the Parish of St. Norbert was founded. At that time, it encompassed Pointe-Coupée and Point-à-Grouette (modern-day Ste. Agathe).2
When the RM of Ritchot was founded in 1890, Pointe-Coupée was incorporated into it. A year later, the region’s first post office was built under the name of Dubuc. In 1893, the town was renamed St. Adolphe after Adolphe Turner, who had made a large donation for the creation of a local church or mission.2
That mission was duly constructed. On January 10, 1896, the Parish of St. Adolphe was founded. The School District of St. Adolphe was formed that year as well.
Ten years later, a group of French nuns from the order Les Filles de la Croix (Sisters of the Cross) opened a Roman Catholic convent and school. The Catholic church was built in 1913.2
The convent in St. Adolphe would come to play a significant part in the town’s history. In 1922, the convent was the site of an event that many considered a miracle. Sister Julie-Pauline of Bellegarde, Saskatchewan fell very ill with tuberculosis in 1915 and was moved to St. Adolphe to live in the convent’s infirmary.
By 1921, doctors told her that her death was imminent.
“History says Sister Julie-Pauline was inspired on the night of February 20, 1922, to ask to be cured by the Venerable Andre-Hubert Fournet, founder of Les Filles de la Croix,” reads a local account. “She began a novena, consisting of nine days of prayer, but showed no signs of improvement. After a second novena, her condition only got worse. But then on March 10, 1922, Sister Julie-Pauline stepped out of bed and got dressed without pain or weakness.”7
In 1967, Les Filles de la Croix converted the school into a nursing home. In 1972, the nursing home was sold but remained as a personal care home until 2013. In 2017, the building, which had by then been deemed unsafe, was demolished.2
St. Adolphe’s proximity to the Red River has played a major role in many aspects of its storied history. The flooding of the Red in 1950 and 1966 was severe enough that St. Adolphe had to be evacuated. After the 1966 flood, a ring dike was constructed around the town. It has been expanded and repaired over the years but remains to this day. It is responsible for keeping the town safe and dry.2
In 1893, a ferry was constructed to allow for easy crossing of the Red River at Pointe-Coupée. By 1967, it was the last ferry operating on the Red. Finally, in 1976, the Pierre Delorme bridge was built to replace the ferry. That bridge in turn was replaced in 2011.2 9
In 1986, the ferry was moved to a spot on Main Street across from the Catholic Church. It was restored by volunteers and presented as a tourist attraction.
Unfortunately, the ferry was significantly vandalized in 2009 and by 2015 had been moved offsite to keep it safe. The remains of the ferry now lie in the RM of Ritchot’s Public Works lot.9
St. Adolphe has gained some notoriety for being an excellent place from which to view the chimney swift and its migration. Chimney swifts are listed as a threatened species under the Manitoba Endangered Species Act but are fairly common in St. Adolphe. This is in part because of the number of older buildings with chimneys in which the birds can roost. In 2008, an artificial chimney, or “swift tower,” was erected there.8
One of the major tourist attractions in the area is A Maze in Corn, two kilometres north of St. Adolphe. Besides the annual corn maze in the autumn, they have become well known for having constructed the world’s largest snow maze.
St. Adolphe has traditionally been a francophone town. As Winnipeg has grown in size and population, however, St. Adolphe has become almost like a suburb. As of the 2021 census. St. Adolphe was home to 1,595 residents, one-third of whom listed French as their first language.2
