Historic Sites of Manitoba: Eunola School No. 921 (Municipality of Two Borders)

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Photos & Coordinates | Sources

The Eunola School District was established formally in January 1898. A one-room schoolhouse measuring 18 feet by 28 feet was built later that year on the southwest corner of 7-4-28 west of the Principal Meridian, in what is now the Municipality of Two Borders. It was moved to SW2-4-29W in 1900 and to SE11-4-29W in 1918. The building was destroyed by fire on 16 April 1937. Students attended classes in a nearby home until a replacement school could be built.

In November 1937, the present school building opened at SE11-4-29W. It came under the control of a municipal school board in 1956 and was closed in 1962. Replicas of the two schools made by local craftsman Walter Tucker and unveiled during the Pierson centennial celebrations on 5-7 July 1991, are present at the site. A commemorative cairn is nearby. In January 1992, the school became a municipally-designated historic site and it underwent renovations in 2008, including replacement of its windows. Inside the building, which is still used as a community centre, are school desks, photographs of teachers and other pioneers, and a book listing teachers, reminiscences of former students, and other historical information.

Over the course of its history, 42 teachers worked at the school: Alexander S. Morrison (1898-1899), D. J. McMillan (1899), Robert Foulds (1900), David Mundell (1901-1903), R. A. Harrington (1904), J. R. Evans (1905), Agnes Haight (1906, 1915), W. R. Cottingham (1906-1907), E. Bathgate (1907-1908), R. B. Macquay (1909), V. E. Mulvin (1909-1910), R. G. Warmen (1911), C. Moore (1912), G. E. Bride (1913), A. Gregory (1914), G. Burnett (1915), Grace Hall (1916, 1944-1945, 1948-1949), M. A. Moore (1917-1918), V. Lopeman (1919), V. E. Dandy (1920, 1922-1924), S. Sigurdson (1921-1922), S. J. Ferguson (1921-1922), M. G. Stevenson (1924-1926), Elizabeth LeBarron (1926-1927), Hazel I. Miller (1927-1930), Mildred Tufts (1930-1935), Alice M. McBrien (1935-1938), M. A. McIntyre (1938-1941), Ruth Roberts (1943-1944), Jean Grierson (1945-1946), Dorothy Young (1946-1947), Ruby Reddaway (1946-1948), Audrey C. Kilborn (1949-1950), Andrew Moffat (1950-1951, 1952-1956), Mary Sople (1951-1952), Mildred Burton (1956-1957), Eugene Baker (1957-1959), Ian Phair (1959-1960), and Ray Duthie (1960-1962).

Photos & Coordinates

Eunola School (no date) by George Hunter Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs, GR8461, A0233, C131-2, page 23. Eunola School monument and building (October 2011) Source: Gordon Goldsborough Two replicas of former Eunola School buildings (October 2011) Source: Gordon Goldsborough The former Eunola School building (October 2011) Source: Gordon Goldsborough The former Eunola School building (September 2021) Source: Rose Kuzina The interior of the former Eunola School (October 2011) Source: Gordon Goldsborough The interior of the former Eunola School (September 2021) Source: Rose Kuzina Basement of the Eunola School building (October 2011) Source: Gordon Goldsborough Site Coordinates (lat/long): N49.28170, W101.27986 denoted by symbol on the map above

See also:

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Municipally Designated Historic Sites

Sources:

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.

Harvests of Time: History of the R.M. of Edward by Edward History Book Committee, 1983, pages 151-153.

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

Eunola School, SE 11-4-29 WPM, Pierson area, Manitoba Historic Resources Branch.

We thank Nathan Kramer and Rose Kuzina for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 10 October 2021

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