Historic Sites of Manitoba: Crosby School No. 1422 (Municipality of Russell-Binscarth)

The Crosby School District was organized formally in March 1907 and, the following year, a school building was erected on SW20-19-29W in what is now the Municipality of Russell-Binscarth, on an acre of land donated by James Murdoch. The school operated continuously, except for the period from 1947 to 1948 when it closed temporarily due to low enrollment. It closed permanently in 1966 and the remaining students went to Binscarth Consolidated School No. 2326. The building is no longer present at the site but a monument, dedicated in 1990, commemorates it.

The teachers of Crosby School included Victoria Heap (Fall 1908, pt Fall 1909), Evelyn O’Keefe [O’Keeffe] (Spring 1909, pt Fall 1909 - Spring 1910), Percival Beresford Bennett (Fall 1910 - Spring 1911), Mabelle [Mabel?] Barke (Fall 1911, pt Fall 1912), Christena “Tena” McCrostie [McRostie] (Spring 1912, pt Fall 1912 - Spring 1913), did not operate? (Fall 1913), Mabelle [Mabel?] Barke (Spring 1914), did not operate? (Fall 1914 - Spring 1915), Helen F. Paterson (Fall 1915), J. Nesbitt (?-?), H. Ogden (?-?), Cecelia E. Cox (Spring-Fall 1916), V. Cole, E. Porter, M. Porter, M. Cammidge, P. Pocket, I. Watson, A. Peeler, H. McLennan, A. Lavery, E. Littler, E. Cope, V. Rinn, N. Kyle, V. Flett, V. McGinnis, K. Thorpe, A. Stewart, J. Schwalm, S. Stephanow, N. Jelfs, J. Richardson, B. Zacharias, N. Zamaitais, M. Mitten, R. Haberstock, E. Mitten, E. Clunas, H. Kingdon, R. Formiziewich, W. Helliwell, M. Onefreiciuc, G. Dorward, K. Warden, L. Funk, and A. Miller.

The former Crosby School building (circa 1986) Source: Historic Resources Branch, Public School Buildings Inventory, slide 1199. Crosby School commemorative monument (June 2012) Source: Gordon Goldsborough Site Coordinates (lat/long): N50.63908, W101.47735 denoted by symbol on the map above

Sources:

Board of Education registers (A 0050), GR7643, Archives of Manitoba.

Summative half-yearly returns for school districts (A 0051), GR0571, Archives of Manitoba.

Board of Education meeting minutes and office files (A 0052), GR1622, Archives of Manitoba.

School division half-yearly attendance reports (E 0757), Archives of Manitoba.

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.

Binscarth Memories by Binscarth History Committee, 1984. [Legislative Library of Manitoba, F5649.Bin]

A Study of Public School Buildings in Manitoba by David Butterfield, Historic Resources Branch, Manitoba Department of Culture, Heritage and Tourism, 1994, 230 pages.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough and Nathan Kramer.

Page revised: 19 May 2023

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