The region served as a path for First Nations peoples many years ago, and was also integrated into the Redcoat Trail of the 19th century.

Gravelbourg carries the name of its founder Abbé Louis-Pierre Gravel,[9] who was designated a Person of National Historic Significance in 1956.

[10] The inscription on the monument in Gravelbourg built in 1958 to honour him reads:"Between 1906 and 1926 more than ten thousand Canadian citizens, many of whom were then living in the United States, answered the call of Reverend Louis-Pierre Gravel to make their homes on the broad plains of Saskatchewan where they built towns and established French-speaking cultural institutions."

Gravelbourg celebrates its many cultures at its annual Summer Solstice Festival d'été Archived 8 April 2014 at the Wayback Machine.

Our Lady of the Assumption Roman Catholic Cathedral, the former Convent of Jesus and Mary and the former Bishop's Residence were designated the Gravelbourg Ecclesiastical Buildings National Historic Site of Canada in 1995.

The town has for the past four decades been noteworthy for College Mathieu, a francophone boarding school for boys and girls who wish to acquire or retain fluency in French.

The school has attracted students from throughout the southern part of the province as well as other areas of Canada and overseas, notably Africa.