Historic Sites of Manitoba: Ferndale School No. 498 (RM of Macdonald)

The Ferndale School District was organized in February 1887, in the Rural Municipality of Macdonald. A school building was erected at this site and it served as the centre for church services and other community events. It was replaced by a new building in 1940 and the old building was sold for use as a private residence. (It was re-sold in 1953 and moved to the Fort Garry area of Winnipeg where it continued use as a residence.) The school closed in 1960 and its remaining students went to Sanford Consolidated School No. 86 or Starbuck Consolidated School No. 1150. The school district was dissolved in July 1966. The building remained at the site until the summer of 2009 when it was burned during a firefighter training exercise.

In 2011, former student Len Goldsborough began making preparations for the erection of a commemorative cairn at the site of Ferndale School. The cairn will be unveiled in 2013.

Teachers at Ferndale School through the years included the following: Miss Taylor, W. R. Taylor, Miss Rankin, G. G. Newton, William MacKinnon, Miss Heslop, Miss Morley, E. Chequin, Mrs. Fraser, J. C. Switzer, J. F. Brooks, Miss McCrossars, Miss Douglas, Miss McKinney, Miss Young, Miss Wortman, Miss Mackenzie, Miss McLean, Mrs. Weir, Miss Attridge, Miss Laing, Miss Belle Nugent, Miss S. Hanley, Miss Emma Thompson, Miss C. Johnson, Miss Lottie Bere, Miss Ruth Williams, Miss Alice Pieper, Miss Minnie Kelsey, Miss Mary Andrews, Mrs. Nell McDowell, Miss Vera Young, Miss M. Buck, Miss Eleanor Vosper, Miss Winnie Collins, Miss Frances Fox, Miss Beryl Rodgers, Miss Jewel Grose, Miss Myrtle Wastle, Miss Lydia Steeves, A. F. Thomas, Miss E. Woodmansee, Miss Reta Houston, Mrs. Morrow, Miss Marge Poersch, Miss Gustafson, Bob Lillier, Miss Daphne Clark, Miss E. Killoran, Mrs. E. Rhynard, Miss L. Hancock, Miss Louise Ammeter, Miss Lenore White, Miss Margaret Stuart, Miss Senta Ammeter, Miss Frances Loree, Miss N. McMaster, Miss Clara McLeod, Miss D. Schroeder, and Miss Elizabeth Brims.

The original Ferndale School (no date) by E. D. Parker Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs, GR8461, A0233, C131-1, page 74. Ferndale School yard, weeds on the former school site (2010) Source: Gordon Goldsborough Site Location (lat/long): N49.72390, W97.51570 denoted by symbol on the map above

See also:

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Ferndale United Church (RM of Macdonald)

Manitoba Organization: Morris-Macdonald School Division School District No. 19

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.

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

Sanford-Ferndale 1871-1987 by Sanford-Ferndale History Committee, 1989, pages 84-87.

We thank Leonard H. Goldsborough for providing additional information used here.

Information for this page was collected and prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 14 May 2013

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