Historic Sites of Manitoba: Killarney School No. 252 (Broadway Avenue, Killarney, RM of Killarney-Turtle Mountain)

Link to:
Principals | Vice-Principals | Teachers | Photos & Coordinates | Sources

The first school in the vicinity of Killarney was erected around 1884, on the road south to Lena and the US border.

A three-storey, four-classroom brick and stone school on Broadway Avenue in Killarney, measuring 42 feet by 72 feet, was designed by Winnipeg architect John Hamilton Gordon Russell and built between mid-1905 and late 1906 by the Snyder brothers of Portage la Prairie, supervised by stonemason Samuel Hossack (1832-1913) and completed at a cost of about $20,000..

As one-room schools in the surrounding area closed during the 1960s, their students came to Killarney School. Among them were Lyonshall School No. 223, Wakopa School No. 308, West Lake School No. 311, Oak Ridge School No. 328, Northcote School No. 396, Fairfield School No. 418, Glendenning School No. 552, Jaques School No. 605, Hullett School No. 700, Long River School No. 720, and Lake Lorne School No. 1105. The Killarney schools were eventually closed and demolished, and the site is now a public green space.

A plaque listing the names of high school students killed during the First World War is held at the J. A. V. David Museum.

Principals (High School)

Period

Principal

1898-1900

R. R. Earle

1900-1901

Hugh William Watson (1872-?)

1901-1904

Fred C. Wilson

1904-1909

David J. Hartley

1909-1910

William Joseph Cram (1861-1940)

1910-1912

?

1912-1920

Rollie Lee Miles (1889-1976)

1920-1927

Howard Robert Haines (1891-1974)

1927-1930

John Elwin Laird (1876-1950)

1930-1934

Arni Kristinson (1883-1969)

1934-1936

George Isaac Herman Garrett (1884-1977)

1936-1938

John Albert “Jack” George (1899-1970)

1938-1940

Charles William Havelock (1906-2000)

1940-1941

George Harold Laycup (1902-1960)

1941-1953

Edgar John Jarvis (1894-1972)

1953-1954

Harold V. Vidal

1954-1970

Robert Stanley “Stan” McGill (1909-1994)

1970-1975

O. Al Olson

1975-1978

Nick Olynyk

1978

Garry Campbell

1979-1980

Len Neufeld

1980-1988

Levi Reimer

1988-1996

Dr. Bob Gustafson

1996-2000

Rob MacTavish

2000-?

Terry Beazley

Principals (Elementary)

Period

Principal

1953-1956

John Thomas Wherrett (1932-2011)

1956-1969

Ed Mauthe

Vice-Principals (High School)

Period

Principal

1959

Harold V. Vidal

1962-1975

Alvin James “Al” Hill (1922-2010)

1970-1971

Ed Mauthe

1972-1974

Nick Olynyk

1975-1978

Garry Campbell

1975-1976

Bill McBride

1977-1987

Richard Dow

1988-1995

Rob MacTavish

1995-2002

Con Erickson

2002-?

Darlene Shaw

Teachers

Among the other teachers at Killarney School were Ethel Kinley, T. Albert Scholes, Mr. Watson, Rufus Earle, D. H. Hartley, Mr. Finkbiener, Miss Jennie Sharman, Miss Dowler, Miss MacGregor, Miss Hopwood, Miss Parker, Annie Eccles Kent, Arthur F. Kerr, Bill Welsh, Lois M. Falloon, Hildur Emily Sandberg, and Norine Isla Smith Kellet.

Photos & Coordinates

Killarney High School building erected in 1906

Killarney High School building erected in 1906 (no date) by W. J. Parr
Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs,
GR8461, A0233, C131-1, page 6.

Postcard view of the Killarney High School

Postcard view of the Killarney High School (no date)
Source: Gordon Goldsborough, 2011-0031.

Postcard view of the Killarney High School

Postcard view of the Killarney High School (no date)
Source: Rob McInnes, MN03646.

Postcard view of Killarney Elementary School, left, and Killarney High School, right

Postcard view of Killarney Elementary School, left, and Killarney High School, right (no date) by P. C. Edwards
Source: Gordon Goldsborough, 2012-0034

Killarney Schools

Killarney Schools (October 1963)
Source: Archives of Manitoba, George Harris Fonds, Acc. 1979-141, P7454, Album 21, Page 57.

Killarney School

Killarney School (1967)
Source: Archives of Manitoba, Architectural Survey - Killarney 5.

The former Killarney School building

The former Killarney School building (circa 1986)
Source: Historic Resources Branch, Public School Buildings Inventory, slide 1382.

The former Killarney School building

The former Killarney School building (circa 1986)
Source: Historic Resources Branch, Public School Buildings Inventory, slide 1383.

Site Coordinates (lat/long): N49.18069, W99.66552
denoted by symbol on the map above

First World War Casualties from the Killarney High School

Name

Occupation

Service

Rank

Birth Date

Death Date

Thomas Lewis Briggs
[Killarney, Next of Kin, Wesley College]

Student

5th Battalion, Canadian Infantry

Private

1 July 1895

2 October 1916

Charles Frederick David
[Killarney]

?

97th Squadron, Royal Air Force

Lieutenant

1 August 1889

14 August 1918

George Edward Haight
[Killarney]

Drug Clerk

8th Battalion, Canadian Infantry

Private

25 October 1896

10 November 1917

Henry Roy Halladay
[Killarney, Vimy Ridge]

Student

44th Battalion, Canadian Infantry

Private

9 May 1892

10 April 1917

Jesse Harold McFadden
[Armoury, Killarney, Next of Kin, Pilot Mound, Wawanesa, Wawanesa]

Clergyman

10th Field Ambulance, Canadian Army Medical Corps

Private

22 October 1891

16 September 1916

Clifford James Moir
[Killarney, Manitoba College, Masonic, Next of Kin]

Student

217th Squadron, Royal Air Force

Lieutenant

13 March 1894

30 June 1918

William Gowan Watson Moxley
[Killarney]

School Teacher

5th Battalion, Canadian Infantry

Lieutenant

5 July 1893

9 April 1917

Norman Cleland Treleaven
[Bank of Hamilton, Killarney]

Bank Clerk

43rd Battalion, Canadian Infantry

Private

4 February 1898

8 August 1918

See also:

Memorable Manitobans: John Hamilton Gordon Russell (1863-1946)

Sources:

The Canadian Contract Record, Volume 3, 16 May 1905, page 2.

“Killarney’s new school,” Winnipeg Tribune, 12 August 1905, page 2.

“Killarney’s new high school,” Manitoba Free Press, 2 November 1906, page 13.

Annual Reports of the Manitoba Department of Education, Manitoba Legislative Library.

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

Killarney Memories by J. C. Treleaven, Manitoba Pageant, Volume 23, Number 3, Spring 1978.

“Killarney, Man,” Western Canada Fire Underwriters’ Association map, Archives of Manitoba.

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.

More Reflections: R.M. of Turtle Mountain, Town of Killarney, 1982-2007, page 40.

Biographical Dictionary of Architects in Canada, 1800-1950 by Robert G. Hill, Toronto.

We thank Nathan Kramer and Jordan Makichuk for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 27 May 2023

Historic Sites of Manitoba

This is a collection of historic sites in Manitoba compiled by the Manitoba Historical Society. The information is offered for historical interest only.

Browse lists of:
Museums/Archives | Buildings | Monuments | Cemeteries | Locations | Other

Inclusion in this collection does not confer special status or protection. Official heritage designation may only come from municipal, provincial, or federal governments. Some sites are on private property and permission to visit must be secured from the owner.

Site information is provided by the Manitoba Historical Society as a free public service only for non-commercial purposes.


Send corrections and additions to this page
to the MHS Webmaster at webmaster@mhs.mb.ca.

Search Tips | Suggest an Historic Site | FAQ

Help us keep history alive!