Schanzenfeld

Schanzenfeld is a small hanlet community in the Rural Municipality of Stanley, Manitoba, Canada, located about 2 miles south of the City of Winkler.

The village was named after Jacob Yost Shantz, a businessman from Ontario who helped Plautdietsch-speaking Mennonites migrate from Imperial Russia to southern Manitoba. He visited areas of southern Manitoba in 1872 to explore possibilities for Mennonite settlement.

The community is first noted on a Department of the Interior map in 1881. It opened a post office ion 21-2-4W in 1884 but it was soon moved to Winkler on 4-3-4W. The community was on 16-2-4W and 21-2-4W while the school district was located at SW22-2-4W.

Economy

Schanzenfed has a very diversified economy. The main occupation of its residents is truck drivers and school bus drivers. The local economy consists of two meat shops (Banman Meats and Southern Meats).

Education

Schanzenfeld has two public schools, Southwood School (Kindergarten to Grade 3) and Prairie Dale School (Grades 4 through 8). Both schools are in the Garden Valley School Division.

References

• R.M. of Stanley
• Geographic Names of Manitoba (pg. 243) - the Millennium Bureau of Canada
• the Dictionary of Canadian Biography - Jacob Yost Shantz