Rivers, Manitoba
Rivers is an unincorporated urban community in the Riverdale Municipality within the Canadian province of Manitoba. It is located northwest of Brandon, above sea level. It is within the Westman Region (Southwestern Manitoba). Agriculture, health and related businesses provide income for the community and area. Rivers has a population of 1,257 people in the 2016 census. History. Rivers was named in 1908 after Sir Charles Rivers Wilson, Chairman of the Board of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway. During the Second World War, Rivers became one of the sites in Canada which helped to fix the positions of German  U-boats using high-frequency direction finding. This site, along with Portage la Prairie increased the "fix" accuracy on the U-boats. Rivers held town status prior to January 1, 2015. It was dissolved on that day as a result of its provincially mandated amalgamation with the Rural Municipality of Daly to form Riverdale Municipality. Demographics. The population of Rivers in the 2016 Canadian census was 1,257 people, a 9.4% increase from the prior 2011 census. The size of Rivers in land area is , equating to a population density of 1454.7 per km. There are 540 private dwellings in Rivers , 514 which are occupied by usual residence. Attractions. East of Rivers is Lake Wahtopanah, a long lake that is part of Rivers Provincial Park. Infrastructure. CFB Rivers, a former military base, is located west of the community. It was decommissioned in 1971. Rivers is served by Provincial Trunk Highway 25 (PTH 25) and Provincial Road 250 (PR 250). PTH 25 terminates just southwest of Rivers at the unincorporated community of Wheatland, while PR 250 intersects and briefly overlaps with PTH 25. Rivers station is a station stop for Via Rail's "The Canadian". Education. The local schools fall under the  Rolling River School Division, with a nursery school, the Rivers Elementary School (kindergarten to grade 6), and Rivers Collegiate Institute (grades 7 to 12). The high school is a "Pay It Forward" school and works on programs to do just that.