1946 -2026 Watching Steinbach Grow – November, 1946 – Credit Union building is home to first town council
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The Steinbach Credit Union building on Reimer Avenue was completed just in time to usher in a new era for Steinbach, providing a lower-level meeting space for the newly elected Steinbach town council.
An order-in-council by the Manitoba government in October of 1946 elevated the status of the Village of Steinbach to that of an incorporated town effective Jan. 1, 1947. It was indeed an exciting moment in the history of Steinbach, meaning the residents of the village, which had so long been part of the RM of Hanover, had broken all ties, except those of friendship, with the municipality.
The rapidly growing community would now have its own government and secretary-treasurer, responsible for the assets and liabilities of one-square-mile, consisting of Section 35-6-6E.
At a brief ceremony at the municipal hall, Jan. 9, 1947, the Town of Steinbach’s first council (elected in the fall of 1946) was duly inaugurated, officially cutting its ties with the municipality.
A corner of the basement of the new Steinbach Credit Union building would serve as the first Town of Steinbach council chambers.
John Schellenberg, who would later go to work for the RM of Hanover, was the town’s first secretary-treasurer. The first council, headed by Mayor K.R. Barkman, included Vern Barkman, K.J.B. Reimer, A.D. Penner and Eugene Derksen.
It is interesting to note that Steinbach’s first mayor after incorporation had been on village council when Steinbach was granted unincorporated village status in 1920.
A.D. Penner was chair of the village council in 1946, but decided not run for mayor, saying he could not devote the time necessary to the organization and running of the town. Instead, he acted in a supporting role to K.R. Barkman, as one of four members of the first Town of Steinbach council.
The incorporation of the village, elevating it to town status, was the third phase of civic government for Steinbach, which has evolved from a small, but active Mennonite “darp” in 1874, to the official status of unincorporated village in 1920 and then on to become the Town of Steinbach in January of 1947.