Anola

In 1907, when the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway expressed an interest in the district, the land was sold, and the village of "Free Port" was born. The name changed in 1912. According to the book Place Names of Manitoba, published for the Geographic Board of Canada in 1933 by the Department of the Interior, the name Anola is an "invented name, formerly known as Richland Post Office". A 1905 letter from M. Holloway, who ran the Richland post office which served the area, may have prompted this conclusion. In his correspondence to the Geographic Board of Canada, it was indicated that residents were unaware of why it was so named except "as a more convenient means of referring to it than Township 10-7E". Considering the date of his letter, it seems that people in the area were calling it "Anola" even before it was officially changed; at least as far as mail delivery was concerned.

Ted Stone states in his book The Story behind Manitoba Names: "Locals sometimes ascribe the name to the rise in elevation there. The area is on a slight but perceptible, ridge. According to this theory it's on "a knoll," which gave rise to the name Anola. Others have suggested that Anola is named after the wife of a railway official. This theory has some credence since Anola comes at the end of a series of rail points (Elma, Hazel, Vivian) using women's first names. It's likely that the same official named at least two of these towns after one or more daughters. Since all four towns received their names at about the same time, Elma, Hazel, Vivian and Anola may have been sisters. Or perhaps the local legend is correct and Anola was the mother of the other three.".[2]

Another possibility is that early homesteaders in the area were of Finnish descent and so the name chosen would reflect that, as there are at least seven towns in southern Finland whose names end with ola: Askola, Hollola, Karkola, Nastola, Kouvola, Hartola and Heinola.

Anola has many well established businesses, Anola Motor Hotel, Laketrail Petro Canada and Anola Building Center. While the town boasts an expanded Petro Canada, many commuters often stop at Settler's Inn, which was originally a Shell Station/Seasonal Burger Joint, switched to an Esso, but is now back to a Shell Station.

Anola is home to the 10 Acre Woods, a petting zoo.[3]

Anola has a K-8 school. Anola school offers a wide array of programming including French, band, music, choir, grade 6-8 life options, resource, counselling, inter/intra-school athletics, and school-wide talent development program.

In mid 2019, Canada Post began the process of "Urbanizing" the Anola and surrounding area's postal system, thus transitioning Anola addresses from the rural Postal Code R0E 0A0 to the new Forward Sortation Area of R5L.[4]

• Corey Koskie, former Major League Baseball player.[5]
• Al Simmons (musician), children's performer/musician

Winnipeg local band, Quagmire, has a song named "Anola, MB" on their 2005 album One For The Ditch.[6]

• Official Anola Homepage
• Anola Community Profile
• Emergency Services
• Anola School