Historic Sites of Manitoba: Gravel Ridge School No. 2285 (RM of Hanover)

The Gravel Ridge School District was established in March 1934 and a one-room schoolhouse was operated at SE5-6-5E in the Rural Municipality of Hanover, though records suggest the district did not build their own school until around 1938. In 1947, a $2,000 teacherage was added to the property. In August 1961, the school closed and the district was dissolved. Its area was divided between the Hochstadt School District and the Goodwill School District, and later became part of the Hanover School Division. In 2013, a commemorative sign was erected at the site by the EastMenn Historical Society.

Among the teachers who worked at Gravel Ridge School through the years were Maude Shewfelt (1938-1939), Kathleen Ethel Bray (1940), Lena Goossen Penner (1940-1942), Margaret Peters (1942-1945), Elizabeth Sawatzky (1945-1946), Martha Dyck (1946-1947), Anne Enns (1947-1948), Mary Peters (1948-1950), Peter George Kehler (1950-1951), Peter Fast (1951-1952), Hildegard Schwarz (1952), Jacob J. Penner (1952-1955), Helmut Janzen (1955-1957), David Krahn (1957-1958), Ernest Dueck (1958-1960), and Elizabeth Giesbrecht (1960-1961).

Gravel Ridge School (no date) by A. A. Herriot Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs, GR8461, A0233, C131-3, page 131. Gravel Ridge School commemorative sign (November 2020) Source: Rose Kuzina Site Coordinates (lat/long): N49.44376, W96.87201 denoted by symbol on the map above

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.

Schools - Our Heritage: From 46 School Districts to Hanover Unitary School Division (1878-1968) by John K. Schellenberg, The Board of The Hanover School Division No. 15, May 1985, ISBN 0-919673-93-7.

School division half-yearly attendance reports (E 0757), Archives of Manitoba.

Manitoba School Records Collection, Gravel Ridge School District No. 2285 - Daily Registers, GR2656, Archives of Manitoba.

School division and school district formation files (E 0027), Gravel Ridge School District No. 2285, Archives of Manitoba.

Trustee records regarding geographically remote schools directly administered by Department (E 0166), File 2285 - Gravel Ridge, GR1206, Archives of Manitoba.

Trustee records regarding geographically remote schools directly administered by Department (E 0166), File 2285 - Gravel Ridge - Permanent, GR1206, Archives of Manitoba.

We thank Glen Klassen, Ernest Braun, Henry Esau, Nathan Kramer, and Rose Kuzina for providing information used here.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 22 November 2020

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