When the last
ice age retreated, as well as the
prairies,
escarpments such as
Riding Mountain were left behind. In addition to these, smaller elevations were left behind such as
Stony Mountain and Stonewall. It is believed that these escarpments were used as look-outs by early hunters approximately 4,000 to 5,000 years ago. These formations were later used as
buffalo jumps by the
indigenous populations. Stonewall was founded by Samuel Jacob Jackson in 1878, after he acquired the land the town is built upon in 1875. However, Jackson did not move to Stonewall himself until 1881. During the peak times of the quarry, large amounts of
dynamite was used for blasting the rock. The dynamite was kept in the powder magazine which has since been rebuilt near the entrance to Stonewall Quarry Park. On June 30, 1880, the
CPR railway line between Winnipeg and Victoria Junction, east of Stonewall, was completed. The construction of the line continued west passing through Stonewall, Hanlan and Meadow Lea before turning south-west towards
Portage la Prairie during the summer of 1880. The transcontinental line was originally planned to pass through
Selkirk, but was actually built through Winnipeg following heavy lobbying from the city. The line west of Stonewall was therefore rebuilt through
Rosser. The line north-west from Stonewall was subsequently extended through
Teulon, Komarno before eventually reaching
Arborg in 1910. In 2008, the RM of Rockwood decided that the line was obsolete. With the city of Winnipeg's help the line was taken out. The present
town hall was built in 1912 using local limestone. Following the closure of the quarry, Kinsmen Lake was developed on the site and opened to the public on August 10, 1956. The lake has become a popular location for locals and visitors to the town. In 1983, the town council initiated a project to develop the former quarry site around Kinsmen Lake into a historical site and natural area. == Demographics ==