Historic Sites of Manitoba: Hunter School No. 571 (Municipality of Riverdale)

The Hunter School District was established formally in April 1889, and a school building was erected at a cost of $600 on the northwest quarter of 5-11-20 west of the Principal Meridian, in what is now the Municipality of Riverdale. In addition to meeting the educational needs of the community, the building also served as a church, community club, and venue for meetings of the local Women’s Institute. Renovations in 1929 included addition of a concrete basement, furnace, toilets, and two cloakrooms. Electricity was installed in 1964.

The school closed in 1952 due to low enrollment and the remaining students went to Poplar Hill School No. 479 or Rivers Consolidated School No. 1484. The district was dissolved in January 1967. A commemorative monument was unveiled at the former school site and, as of September 2011, all that remains is a shelterbelt of trees and the horse barn where students left their animals while attending class, the school building having been sold to a local resident.

The teachers who worked at Hunter School were Eleanor Gothard (1890), George McDermid (1890), Lillian Mitchell (1891-1892), Mr. E. R. Bartlett (1893), Mrs. L. L. Nichol (1894), Miss M. Wilson (1895), Miss L. Kinley (1896), Miss R. Smith (1897), Miss A. Hadnett (1897-1898), Miss E. Struthers (1899-1900), Miss A. Ramshaw (1901), Jessie Scott (1902, 1905), Frank Hayden (1903), Miss A. Manz (1904), Frank F. Dunham (1905), Miss J. Faucett (1906), Mayme Curtis (1907-1909), Ivy Matheson (1909), Blanche Home (1910), Grace Stewart (1911), Edna Young (1912-1913), Edna Warren (1914), Clare Alford (1914-1915), Miss G. Baynton (1915-1916), Ethel Martin (1916-1917), Bessie Logan (1917-1918), Hilda Tanner (1918-1920), Florence Matthews Hinch (1920-1921), Miss E. Winteringham (1921-1922), Miss E. Sweet (1922), Miss G. Gardiner (1923), Lily Harrison (1923-1924), Elsie Humphries Carnahan (1924-1926), Muriel Bromley (1926-1928), Miss M. White (1928-1930), Evis Foster (1930-1931), Frances Stewart (1931), Miss M. Paddock (1932), Grace Gill (1932-1933), Helen Brownell Nielson (1933-1937), Beth Lothian (1937-1939), Miss M. King (1938-1941), Miss L. McCarty (1941-1942), Ellen McFarland Rutherford (1942-1944), Miss M. McKinney (1944), Miss B. Cork (1945-1946), Miss M. Williams (1946-1947), Vivian Lord (1947-1948), Lois Edie Allison (1948-1949), and Ellen Learmouth (1949-1952).

The original Hunter School, built in 1889 (no date) by A. J. Hatcher Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs, GR8461, A0233, C131-1, page 89. The former Hunter School building, constructed in 1942 (no date) Source: From Generation to Generation, 1988. The Hunter School horse barn and site (September 2011) Source: Gordon Goldsborough Hunter School commemorative monument (September 2011) Source: Gordon Goldsborough Site Coordinates (lat/long): N49.90115, W100.18655 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.

From Generation to Generation by the Kirkham Bridge Women’s Institute, 1988, 166 pp.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 24 January 2021

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