Historic Sites of Manitoba: Inkerman School No. 875 (Municipality of North Cypress-Langford)

Inkerman School was established in January 1896, with a building erected on the northwest quarter of 26-14-14 west of the Principal Meridian, in what is now the Municipality of North Cypress-Langford. Local sources claim the name arose from the prolonged period over which negotiations for the school district were made, and the large amount of ink used during the process. More likely possibilities are that it commemorates some local settler or the Battle of Inkerman during the Crimean War in 1854.

In 1952, a new school building was erected and the old building was sold and moved to Neepawa to be used as the Church of Christ. Around 1967, it was sold again and moved to a site in the northwest corner of town then, a year or two later, it was purchased by the town and moved again, to be used as a training centre for firefighters.

In 1967, Inkerman School closed and remaining students were bused to schools in Neepawa. The former school building was used for three years as a school for mentally handicapped children. In 1970, the Beautiful Plains School Division closed the school and sold the building to a local farmer, who moved it to SW8-13-15 for use as a residence.

The original Inkerman School (no date) by W. C. Hartley Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs, GR8461, A0233, C131-2, page 15. The former Inkerman School building, now a private home at N50.08179, W99.49913 (August 2012) Source: Gordon Goldsborough Site Coordinates (lat/long): N50.22480, W99.28365 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.

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

The Beautiful Plains Story: 1983-2008 by Neepawa and Area History Committee, 2008, page 157.

This page was prepared by Allan Drysdale and Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 31 January 2021

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