Link to:
Principals | Vice-Principals | Teachers | Photos & Coordinates | Sources
The museum occupies the former building of the Melita Consolidated School No. 440 in the Town of Melita. Constructed in 1893, on a design by architect W. H. Shillinglaw, it was a four-room school with its main entrance on the south side. Four more rooms were added in 1905 and brick veneer was added later. Cornerstones are located in the south and northwest corners of the building. Through the years, the rural schools that consolidated with it included Bede School No. 1683, Brown School No. 625, Chesterfield School No. 408, Dobbyn School No. 986, Peninsula School No. 907, Sourisford School No. 906, and West Brenda School No. 388.
On the grounds in front of the museum is a bell cast in 1910 bearing the names of Melita municipal officials that year: Mayor R. M. Graham; councillors R. McB. McKay, T. S. Menarry, T. W. Oxley, W. Griffith, and James Robertson; and secretary-treasurer and constable John Graves. Nearby is a plaque commemorating those from Melita School killed in the First World War, and a plaque describing the ancient Aboriginal traders of southern Manitoba, erected by the Manitoba Heritage Council. Also on the grounds is a small outbuilding housing the Fred Jensen collection of mounted animal specimens.
Exhibits inside the museum include:
- Old-time picture room with walls covered in photographs of Melita and the surrounding country
- Aboriginal heritage room with an extensive collection of projectile points, baskets, grinders, stone hammers, dioramas, and more
- Rural school room recreating a turn-of-the-century, one-room school with desks, pot-bellied stove, water cooler, readers, textbooks and library
- Pioneer home room circa 1900 with furniture and articles in the parlour, dining room, bedroom, kitchen, and back shed
- Military room containing uniforms, badges, medals and equipment used in two world wars, and a memorial to those killed in them
- Main floor corridor with agricultural exhibits including an 1881 breaking plow, sleigh with buffalo robe, saws, axes, farm tools, and the first linotype machine used by a newspaper in Western Canada
- Wildlife exhibit containing over 300 specimens of mounted birds, egs, and other animals
- Art gallery of work by local artists from the surrounding community
- Antiques room containing many items used in earlier times
- Community history room including exhibits on organizations that have operated in the district, including the Browns Fastball Club, Masons (Oriental Lodge No. 54), IOOF (Lodge No. 20), Memorial Hospital, and Anglican, Roman Catholic, and United Churches. Also featured are photographs and school record books for several small schools that operated in the vicinity: South Antler School No. 351 (1884-1962), West Brenda School No. 388 (1885-1960), Chesterfield School No. 408 (1885-1964), Purple Hill School No. 487 (1887-1959), Brown School No. 625 (1891-1961), Tremblay School No. 707 (1892-1959), and Peninsula School No. 907 (1897-1961).
- Fashions exhibit with turn-of-the-20th-century clothing, dolls, and carriages
- Antique tool display with over 1000 wrenches and other hand tools, including a display of miniature-scale horses and wagons, and cast iron seats from antique farm equipment
- Miscellaneous exhibits including a display on the Melita town council (1927-2002) and profiles of noteworthy Melita citizens
Principals
Teachers
School Year |
Teachers |
1916-1917 |
Nellie Amy (grades 2-3), Jean Brown (grades 4 & 6), Edward Sandford Lord (grade 11), Robert Cecil Paris (grades 7-8), Jessie R. Phoenix (grades 9-10), Ila M. Pollock (grade 1), Fanny Woodlinger (grades 2-4) |
Among the other teachers at Melita School were W. G. Hume and William J. Grant.
Photos & Coordinates

Postcard view of Melita School showing the start of construction for its expansion from four to eight classrooms (circa 1905) Source: Gordon Goldsborough, 2013-0178

Melita High School building erected in 1906 (1906) Source: Education Department Report, 1906, Manitoba Legislative Library.

Melita Consolidated School on Fair Day (26 September 1917) Source: Education Department Report, 1917, Manitoba Legislative Library.

Children exercising outside Melita School (no date) by George Hunter Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs, GR8461, A0233, C131-1, page 56.

Postcard view of Melita Collegiate (no date) Source: Rob McInnes, MN0031

Melita School (August 1966) Source: Archives of Manitoba, Architectural Survey - Melita 12.

Antler River Museum (2010) Source: Gordon Goldsborough

Anti-tank gun at the Antler River Museum, on loan from the Royal Canadian Artillery Museum (September 2012) Source: Tighe McManus
Site Coordinates (lat/long): N49.27308, W100.99186 denoted by symbol on the map above
|
Melita School Students Killed in the First World War
Name |
Occupation |
Service |
Rank |
Birth Date |
Death Date |
Lewis Harold Barnard |
Bank Clerk |
23rd Battalion, Army |
Lieutenant |
31 October 1892 |
25 August 1916 |
Joseph Ralph Bilton |
Farmer |
43rd Battalion, Canadian Infantry |
Private |
23 August 1895 |
16 November 1917 |
Edgar William Brook
[Melita, Victoria Methodist] |
Farmer |
16th Battalion, Canadian Infantry |
Private |
23 March 1890 |
8 October 1916 |
Albert Vail Cosgrove
[First Baptist, Melita, Next of Kin] |
Chauffeur |
27 Squadron, Royal Air Force |
Second Lieutenant |
21 March 1894 |
25 September 1918 (died in aerial combat) |
Kenneth Brown Downie |
Student |
43rd Battery, Canadian Field Artillery |
Gunner |
18 October 1894 |
10 August 1916 |
Wilfred John Evans
[Reston] |
Student |
Canadian Infantry |
Lance Corporal |
9 September 1894 |
15 September 1916 |
Albert Edward Farmer |
Farmer |
28th Battalion, Canadian Infantry |
Private |
2 July 1895 |
3 September 1918 |
Herbert Joshua Fletcher |
Farmer |
78th Battalion, Canadian Infantry |
Private |
23 February 1897 |
24 April 1917 |
Thomas Veitch Gibson |
Hardware Merchant |
46th Battalion, Canadian Infantry |
Private |
12 October 1884 |
8 April 1917 |
Andrew Benson Grierson |
Farm Labourer |
46th Battalion, Canadian Infantry |
Private |
26 April 1897 |
12 April 1917 |
Frederick Hart |
Farmer |
5th Battalion, Canadian Infantry |
Private |
23 February 1888 |
25 July 1916 |
Wilfred Maurice Holden |
Bank Clerk |
1st Canadian Mounted Rifles |
Private |
25 November 1895 |
20 August 1917 |
Franklin Robert Kelly
[Melita, Victoria Methodist, Vimy Ridge] |
Farmer |
44th Battalion, Canadian Infantry |
Private |
19 February 1896 |
11 May 1917 |
George Francis Gordon Pitcher |
Farmer |
46th Battalion, Canadian Infantry |
Private |
1 May 1898 |
26 October 1917 |
Norman Allan Pope |
Rodman |
7th Battalion, Canadian Infantry |
Private |
28 April 1887 |
4 June 1916 |
Franklin Saunby
[Melita, Salvation Army] |
Farmer |
1st Canadian Mounted Rifles |
Private |
25 June 1896 |
24 July 1916 |
Howard Clarence Sparling |
Mechanic |
1st Ammunition Supply Park |
Private |
17 April 1893 |
5 June 1917 |
Harry Nelson Thompson |
Civil Servant |
5th Battalion, Canadian Infantry |
Lieutenant |
6 October 1887 |
9 April 1917 |
F. J. Wheeler |
? |
? |
? |
? |
? |
Leslie Reuel Wilson |
Farmer |
102nd Battalion, Canadian Infantry |
Private |
26 January 1896 |
23 March 1917 |
Harold John Warin |
Banker |
Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry |
Private |
19 February 1893 |
12 April 1916 |
See also:
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Melita War Memorial (Melita)
Sources:
Annual Reports of the Manitoba Department of Education, Manitoba Legislative Library.
Antler River Museum brochure.
For the names of First World War casualities from Manitoba who do not appear on any physical monument in the province, see the Manitoba Historical Society War Memorial. If you know of a name that is omitted from this list, please contact the MHS War Memorial Researcher Darryl Toews (darryl@mhs.mb.ca).
Soldiers of the First World War - Canadian Expeditionary Force, Library and Archives Canada.
Canadian Virtual War Memorial, Veterans Affairs Canada.
Financial support for research reported on this page was provided by the Manitoba Heritage Grants Program (2015-2016).
Antler River Historical Society Museum, Town of Melita.
A Study of Public School Buildings in Manitoba by David Butterfield, Historic Resources Branch, Manitoba Department of Culture, Heritage and Tourism, 1994, 230 pages.
School division half-yearly attendance reports (E 0757), Archives of Manitoba.
We thank James Kostuchuk, Tighe McManus, Rob McInnes, Nathan Kramer, and Darryl Toews for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 11 December 2020
 |
Historic Sites of Manitoba
This is a collection of historic sites in Manitoba compiled by the Manitoba Historical Society.
SEARCH the collection
Browse lists of:
Museums/Archives | Buildings | Monuments | Cemeteries | Locations | Other
Please note that inclusion in this collection does not mean that a particular site has special status or protection. Some sites are on private property and permission must be secured from the owner prior to visiting.
Site information is provided by the Manitoba Historical Society as a free public service only for non-commercial purposes. |
|
|
|