The Bracken School District was organized formally in August 1922, named for the new provincial premier John Bracken, and a one-room schoolhouse operated at SE33-21-15W in the Rural Municipality of McCreary. The school closed in 1965 and the district was dissolved two years later. Its area became part of the Turtle River School Division. The former school building was moved across the road (about N50.84482, W99.49795) where it was used as a private residence.
Among the teachers of Bracken School were Clara Fletcher (1922), L. Harper (1924), V. Taylor (1925), N. Kelly (1926), Laura Anne Orchard (1929-1930), D. Scott (1930), Ruth Fletcher (1931), C. Beswitherick (1932), Mr. Suttecliffe (1934), Les Jones (1935), W. Millar (1940), T. Dutour (1941), H. McMillan (1942), B. Smith (1943), K. Fryday (1944), S. Stenberg (1945), D. Bernardin (1947), A. Ogg (1947), M. Hutchison (1948), F. Agnew (1950), G. Recknell (1951), M. Larwood (1952), M. Reese (1953), H. Mozdzen (1954), S. Marten (1955), D. Hannibal (1956), M. Bender (1958), L. Oke (1959), A. Greentree (1960), D. Hannibal (1963), and Lillian Oke (1964-1965).
Bracken School (no date) by C. K. Rogers
Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs,
GR8461, A0233, C131-3, page 94.
The former Bracken School building (May 2014)
Source: Gordon GoldsboroughSite Coordinates (lat/long): N50.84582, W99.49593
denoted by symbol on the map above
See also:
Memorable Manitobans: John Bracken (1883-1969)
McCreary West topographic map, 62J/14 West, Edition 1, Series A743 [UFS Reference Collection].
McCreary: Milestones and Memories by McCreary History Book Committee, 1987, page 163.
One Hundred Years in the History of the Rural Schools of Manitoba: Their Formation, Reorganization and Dissolution (1871-1971) by Mary B. Perfect, MEd thesis, University of Manitoba, April 1978.
A Study of Public School Buildings in Manitoba by David Butterfield, Historic Resources Branch, Manitoba Department of Culture, Heritage and Tourism, 1994, 230 pages.
We thank Al Loyns and Nathan Kramer for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 16 February 2025
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