Historic Sites of Manitoba: LeBlanc School No. 1574 (RM of Ritchot)

The Leblanc School District was organized formally in July 1911. Soon afterward, a school building was constructed on two acres of land donated by Felix LeBlanc on the northeast quarter of 19-8-4 east of the Principal Meridian, in the Rural Municipality of Ritchot. The school was operated by a local board until 1925 when it was dissolved and its duties were assumed by a trustee appointed by the provincial Department of Education.

The school closed in 1951, with students going to Prefontaine School No. 2189, Niverville School No. 315, Dubuc School No. 973, or Coquart School No. 1300. The district was dissolved in 1961 and the district area became part of the Hanover School Division. The former school building was sold and demolished.

Teachers who taught at LeBlanc school between 1911 and 1951 included: Constance Gendron, J. Boheimer, N. de Moisshe, Rosa Richard, E. MacDougall, Annie Delorme, Margaret Clossick, Elizabeth Keating, L. A. Dowler, Catherine Grossman, Irma Bergman, Erna Sawatsky, Ernest Pankratz, Peter J. Willems, Irene Gendron, Virginia Desjardins, Emma Dupois, Marie H. Gousseau, Mary Molloy, Leonard Dowler, Annie Dueck, Agnes Wieler, Harry Johnson, Anne Sherebrin, Mary Bentley, Mr. Watchman, Luella Brown, Emily Bennett, Susan Krahn, Margaret Penner, and George Lechie.

The original Leblanc School (no date) by James Tod Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs, GR8461, A0233, C131-2, page 142. Site Coordinates (lat/long): N49.67914, W97.02699 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, Steinbach: The Board of the Hanover School Division No. 15, May 1985.

We thank Tighe McManus for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 10 February 2021

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