Historic Sites of Manitoba: Fairmount School No. 201 (Municipality of Harrison Park)

The original location of Fairmount School, established in December 1883 in what is now the Municipality of Harrison Park, was in the northwest quarter of 3-16-19W, on land donated by John Proven. The district was named for the Ontario birthplace of the local postmaster, Edward McGill. In 1900, a new brick veneer building, 24 feet by 42 feet, was constructed at SE10-16-19W by contractor S. Fairbairn of Minnedosa.

The school closed in June 1920 when it merged with other rural schools to form Basswood Consolidated School No. 1252. The former school building was used as a community hall from 1930 to 1981. A small brick replica of the building was erected at the site in 1983.

The teachers who worked at Fairmount School through the years included Rebecca Bloomer Jackson (1885-1886), Mr. W. T. Halpenny (1887), Katie Cameron (1888-1889, sister of Neil Cameron), W. N. Finlay (1889), Mr. J. T. Wilson (1890-1891), Mr. H. B. Aitkens (1892), Mr. E. B. Fisher (1892-1893), E. K. Marshall, Joseph Marshall (1894-1895, 1896-1898), Mr. D. S. Williams (1895-1896), Mr. Crerar (1899), Joseph Knight (1900-1901), Miss M. V. Bennett (1902-1903), Miss R. Huggins (1903-1904), Miss Ross (1904-1905), Miss Alberta Logan (1905-1906), Miss Jean Coutts (1906-1907), Miss M. McLeod (1907-1908), Mr. C. Hopper (1908-1909), Miss Ducklow, Miss McAllister, Mr. S. McDonald, Henry Lye (1912-1913), Miss Janie Sinclair (1914-1915), Miss Olive Fraser (1915-1916), Miss J. Cameron (1916), Belle Proven (1917-1918), and Mrs. Cooper (1918-1919).

Fairmount School commemorative monument (August 2011) Source: Gordon Goldsborough Site Coordinates (lat/long): N50.34395, W100.00776 denoted by symbol on the map above

Sources:

1911 Canada census, Automated Genealogy.

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.

Basswood Leaves From the Past, Basswood & District Centennial, 1970. [Manitoba Legislative Library, F5649.B38Bas]

Basswood, 1878-1978: A Century of Living by Basswood and District Historical Book Society, 1980. [Manitoba Legislative Library, F5649.B38 Bas]

Post Offices and Postmasters, Library and Archives Canada.

We thank Nathan Kramer for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 28 January 2021

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