# Settlers, Rails & Trails

Settlers, Rails & Trails Inc. is a community-run, non-profit museum in Argyle, Manitoba. It exhibits local history, railway and agricultural artifacts and historical information, and it is also home to the Canadian Flag Collection. Argyle is governed by the Rural Municipality of Rockwood, and is approximately 28 km northwest of Winnipeg, within the Manitoba Capital Region.

## History

Began in 1991 as a school project under the name "Argyle Prairie Museum", the museum exhibited artifacts and local history in the basement of the Brant-Argyle School. The school is a provincial historical site. In 1993, the museum was expanded to include the Ekhart railway station, and soon afterward a general store and blacksmith building. The museum was open to the public in the summer months and during Argyle’s Homecoming 2000 celebrations. Due to ongoing maintenance and operational demands, the museum continued collecting artifacts, but reduced its exhibition space and tours.
In February 2010, a group of motivated citizens from the Argyle area began exploring options for operating the museum as a community entity. In November 2010, the museum changed its name to Settlers, Rails & Trails while incorporating as a non-profit organization with the Manitoba Government.
SR&T became a member of the Canadian Heritage Information Network in March 2014 and hosts virtual displays at the Canadian Virtual Museum website.
The museum purchased 12 acres (4.9 ha) of land in 2019 and began developing a heritage park. As of 2024, the park contains three fully restored buildings (House, Livery & Railway Station), roads and railbed. In addition to antique equipment, the park has been seeded to lawn, with 8 royal trees (Queen Elizabeth II and King Charles III), 80 other trees and shrubs and 1 acre (0.40 ha) of tallgrass prairie. In 2023, electricity and water services were added to the site. A karst sinkhole is on the west side of the park, and the property is between the Prime Meridian Trail (former Canadian National Railway line, abandoned 1991) and the Prime Meridian of Canada (Cartographic centre of Canada)

## Present day

The museum operates two facilities: the 12-acre heritage park and a year-round exhibition centre in the lower level of the Argyle Community Centre. The museum plans to build a permanent interpretive structure at the park by 2029.
Since 2014, the museum has used a space in the Argyle Community Centre for ongoing exhibitions for the public. Changing over time, the exhibits have been:
* Veterans of the Brant-Argyle Region
* Brant-Argyle School 100th Anniversary
* Canadian Flag Collection
* Brant-Argyle United Church
* Agriculture in the Brant Argyle region
* Queen Elizabeth II Memorial Exhibition
* The Manitoba Brick and Block Collection.
In 2021 the museum launched a new concept: the Art and Culture Exhibition, a celebration of local artists. For the first time in Argyle, an art gallery took shape to highlight local talent.
As the museum grows, it continues to collect artifacts, provide research and educational tours to visitors. In addition to programming based in Argyle, the museum also conducts off-site exhibits, displays and programming. The Canadian flag collection has been displayed in Manitoba Legislative Building seven times and could be found in Winnipeg's Millennium Library and Princess Auto corporate headquarters, Winnipeg.
We Will Remember Them - History of Veterans of Brant-Argyle Region (history book) was released in summer 2016. Voices of War theatrical production was specifically written for the museum and toured in fall 2015 including performances at Domain, Stonewall, Selkirk, Teulon and Argyle, Manitoba. The DVD version of the production was produced and released in fall 2016 to coincide with Remembrance Day. The uniforms, props and artifacts from the production are on display in the museum's main gallery.
SR&T regularly holds events to mark National Flag of Canada Day each year on February 15. The museum conducts exhibits at local schools, and has created two displays in the Manitoba Legislature's rotunda. In 2016 the museum produced an exhibit highlighting the historic flags of Manitoba for that provincial flag's 50th anniversary.

## Museum’s collection
### Local artifacts and history

There are over 4,000 artifacts in the museum’s collection in categories ranging from local history, agriculture, education, religion, business and railway exhibits. The museum is home to the Canadian Flag Collection, holding over 1,800 flags & artifacts from Canada's historic, corporate, regional, sport & special events. The Manitoba Brick & Block Collection holds over 700 bricks, tools, photographs and masonry related artifacts.
Veterans of the Brant-Argyle Region is an exhibit that honours the 173 veterans of the area. Artifacts from the Fenian raids (1860s) to Afghanistan, including photos, medals, uniforms and other artifacts, are on display.
In 2015 the museum wrote and produced a live theatrical production called Voices of War. A DVD and history book now encompass the story of this play.

### Canadian Flag Collection

The Canadian Flag Collection displayed at Settlers, Rails & Trails is a gathering of old and new flags that represent a variety of components of Canadian heritage and culture, in galleries separately dedicated to Canadian history, businesses, sports, regions, and special occasions.
Settlers, Rails & Trails holds the second largest museum collection of flags in Canada. As of February 2021, the collection contains over 1,750 flags. It is due to the CFC that the museum holds regional museum status, exhibiting flags and artifacts from across the country.
The CFC has been covered by CBC Radio, the Winnipeg Free Press, Stonewall Tribune, and Teulon Times. It has been featured in Flagscan, the journal of the Canadian Flag Association.
Manitoba Brick and Block Collection
In 2017 a small assortment of heritage masonry bricks were relocated to Argyle's museum. Over the last few years this unique provincial level collection has grown to incorporate many samples of masonry bricks from across Manitoba. In addition raw samples of clay and shale have been entered into the collections. The museum's goal is to gather two samples of every brick manufactured, from the almost 200 historic brick making sites across the province. The museum has also collected brick samples from important historic Manitoban buildings and structures.
Over the next few years the museum will develop a dedicated structure on the museum's property, for the Manitoba Brick and Block Collection.