Historic Sites of Manitoba: Dominion City School No. 45 (Dominion City, Municipality of Emerson-Franklin)

Link to:
Principals | Vice-Principals | Teachers | Photos & Coordinates | Sources

The Dominion City School District was established formally in March 1877 and a school building operated in Dominion City in what is now the Municipality of Emerson-Franklin. In 1901, a two-storey, four-classroom wood frame schoolhouse was built at the site. It became part of the Dominion City Consolidated School No. 45 in 1913, consolidating with Whitby School No. 1421, Erin School No. 385, and part of Bow Park School No. 166.

By 1914, the school building was considered unsafe so, two years later, a new two-storey, six-classroom brick structure was erected at a cost of $18,456 and the old building was sold. As student enrollment increased through the years, space was added, including a sixth classroom in 1946 and a two-room annex in 1948. Electrical service was added in 1935.

A new primary school, now part of the local arena, was designed by the Winnipeg architectural firm of Smith Carter and Katelnikoff and built in 1956. The annex was removed. The old brick building closed in December 1965 and was later demolished.

Principals

Period	Principal
?-?	Herbert Walter Graham (1878-1938)
1898-1899	James Houston
1899-1901	David Iverach (1871-1946)
1901-1902	J. A. Findlay
1902-1903	Daniel Baldwin (1872-1949)
1903-1904	Angus McNevin (1862-1923)
1904-1906	William Robertson Beveridge (1873-1949)
1906-1907	J. M. Clindinin
1907-1909	Lena A. Waddell
1909-1910	Robert William Dunlop (1876-?)
1910-1912	?
1912-1913	Henry Johnston “Harry” Everall (1877-1933)
1913-1914	Charles Linwood “Charlie” Miller (1891-1958)
1914-1917	William George Edwin Pulleyblank (1890-1955)
1917-1918	James Corrigill (1857-1922)
1918-1919	Kenneth Donald Bruce (1892-1968)
1919-1920	George William Holmes
1920-1922	Clarence Lorne Kerr (1897-1973)
1922-1924	John Elwin Laird (1876-1950)
1924-1925	James Woodside (c1892-?)
1925-1927	Axel Vopnfjord (1902-1993)
1927-1930	John Dawson Evelyn (1862-1942)
1930-1931	Mary Ethel Simms (c1895-1947)
1931-1933	Amy Smith
1933-1934	Louis Erwin “Lewis” Gendron (1896-1973)
1934-1936	William Skidmore (c1885-?)
1936-1937	George Walton F. Brisbin (1906-1990)
1937-1939	William Moore (1914-1983)
1939-1941	Glenn Homer Turner (1912-1987)
1941-1943	William Charles “Charlie” Rhind (1904-1982)
1943-1945	Joseph A. McCracken (1911-1991)
1945-1946	James Andrew McKaughan (1877-1968)
1946-1951	Harry Sharpe (c1905-1958)
1951-1952	Vivian Clarkson “Clark” Hardy (1897-1982)
1952-1956	Myrtle Christina Evans Witherspoon (1906-1998)
1956-1957	Florence Grace Chappell (c1912-1967)
1957-1960	J. A. Dyck
1960-1961	Henry Martens
1961-1966	Gabriel J. Girard (1935-2006)
?	Douglas Albert Keith “Doug” Gruenke (1942-1977)

Teachers

Among the teachers who worked at Dominion City School were Edgar Burgess (1892-1893), David Baldwin (1890s), William John Bates (c1895-1901), and Celine Thuot.

Photos & Coordinates

The original Dominion City School building (circa 1917) Source: Education Department Report, 1917, Manitoba Legislative Library. The new Dominion City School building, shortly after construction in 1916 (circa 1917) Source: Education Department Report, 1917, Manitoba Legislative Library. Dominion City School (no date) by A. A. Herriot Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs, GR8461, A0233, C131-1, page 15. Site Coordinates (lat/long): N49.14172, W97.16013 denoted by symbol on the map above

See also:

Manitoba Business: Smith Carter and Katelnikoff / Smith Carter Architects and Engineers / Architecture49

Sources:

“School tender notice [Dominion City School],” Winnipeg Free Press, 7 March 1956, page 24.

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.

R.M. of Franklin Turns a Century, 1883-1983 by The RM of Franklin Book Committee, May 1983, pages 88-90.

We thank Nathan Kramer for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 22 December 2022

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