Melita, Manitoba

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Melita
Town
Corner of Townsend Dr. and Front St., grain elevators in background.
Corner of Townsend Dr. and Front St., grain elevators in background.
Melita is located in Manitoba
Melita
Melita
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Country Canada
Province Manitoba
Area
 • Metro 2.97 km2 (1.15 sq mi)
Population (2011)
 • Town 1,069
 • Density 360.4/km2 (933/sq mi)
Time zone CST (UTC−5)
 • Summer (DST) CDT (UTC−6)

Melita is a town located in the southwestern corner of the Canadian province of Manitoba. It is surrounded by the Rural Municipality of Arthur and occupies a bend of the Souris River. The population at the 2011 census was 1,069.[1] It sits at the junction of Highways 3 and 83, approx. 320 km southwest of Winnipeg. Melita is known as the "Grasslands Bird Capital of Manitoba"[2] and is located in Manitoba's banana belt.

History

Evidence of First Nations habitation in the area includes the Linear Mounds Archaeological Site and the Brockinton Archaeological Site, which have provided artifacts dating back to 800 A.D.[3] The site has been designated a National Historic Site of Canada.[4]

Charles West was the first recorded European settler, in 1879.[5] The early inhabitants chose the name "Melita" for the town after hearing a Bible reading (Acts 28:1) about St. Paul's shipwreck on the island of Malta (Melita is an older name for the island).[6]

Notable people

Betty Fox, cancer research activist and mother of Terry Fox, was raised in Melita.[7]

See also

References

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  4. Linear Mounds. Canadian Register of Historic Places. Retrieved 23 May 2012.
  5. "Our First Century", Melita-Arthur History Committee, 1983
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External links

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