The Deer Creek School District was originally organized in April 1907 as the Oak Bluff School District but classes did not begin untl 1911. A school building was constructed in the northwest quarter of 8-1-5 west of the Principal Meridian, in the Rural Municipality of Stanley. In 1913, the district name was changed at the request of the Manitoba Department of Education, possibly to avoid confusion with the Oak Bluff School near Winnipeg.
In late 1953, the schoolhouse was replaced with a new structure built by local volunteers. The original building was moved to SW12-1-5W where it was used as a granary. As of the early 1990s, it was still there.
Among the teachers of Deer Creek School were Linna Arnson (1911), J. S. Smith (1916), N. Elliot (1918), Miss T. Sigurdson (1923), Miss McGregor (1925), Margaret Dyck (1926), Miss Esther Jickling (1927), Baldwin Berg (1929), Gladys Berg (1930-1932), A. A. Neuman (1932-1934), Eleanor Massey (1934-1936), Wilfred Brown (1937), Elma Brown, Isaac Sawatzsky, Siggi Gillis (1944-1945), Alice Hildebrand (1945-1946), Ragnar Gillis (1947-1948), Miss Sarah Froese (1948), Mrs. Sarah Unrau (1949-1950), Miss Katherine Dyck (1950), Tina Dyck (1950-1953), and Ragnheidur Evelyne Olafson (1954-1955).
The school closed in July 1967. The building is not at the site but a metal sign commemorates it.
The first Deer Creek School building (no date) by G. G. Neufeld
Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs,
GR8461, A0233, C131-2, page 114.
The second Deer Creek School building (November 1953)
Source: Morden Times, 2 December 1953.
The original Deer Creek School building (early 1990s)
Source: A Study of Public School Buildings in Manitoba by David Butterfield, Historic Resources Branch, Manitoba Department of Culture, Heritage and Tourism, 1994, page 85.
Deer Creek School commemorative sign (October 2010)
Source: Gordon GoldsboroughSite Coordinates (lat/long): N49.02922, W98.11027
denoted by symbol on the map above
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.
“Deer Creek School,” Morden Times, 2 December 1953, page 1.
Obituary [Tina Dyck], Wiebe Funeral Homes Ltd.
We thank Phil Froese, Vera Froese, and Darryl Toews for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 1 January 2026
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