Historic Sites of Manitoba: Minitonas School No. 1102 (Minitonas, Municipality of Minitonas-Bowsman)

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

The Minitonas School District was organized formally in April 1901. A school building, erected later that year at SE13-36-26W, was later turned into a barn (for horses rode by students attending the school) in 1909, when a new two-storey, four-classroom wood building was built, using a design by Dauphin architect J. H. Bossons, in the town of Minitonas. The school opened in the fall of 1909 with W. J. Henderson as Principal. Only the classrooms on the lower floor were used, as enrollment did not warrant use of the upper two rooms. The building was demolished in 1953 and replaced with the present structure at a different site.

Principals

Period

Principal

1905-1906

Robert Gardner Taylor (1874-1949)

1906-1909

David Scott Woods (1885-1966)

1909-1913

William James Henderson (1876-1945)

1913-1914

Archibald Macdonald Headlam (1872-1943)

1914-1915

Clarence Record

1915-1918

A. H. Plummer

1918-1919

J. R. Williams

1919-1921

?

1921-1923

George Robert Farrar Prowse (1860-1946)

1923-1924

Margaret Thompson

1924-1925

Margaret Gertrude Dudley (1888-1980)

1925-1926

Dorothea C. Peter

1926-1927

Francis Kethel “Frank” Coleridge (1865-1944)

1927-1929

Norman Robson (1900-1978)

1929-1930

John Blain Stewart (1882-?)

1930-1932

Stanley James Weatherley (1902-1975)

1932-1940

Sanford Stephen Harvey (1911-1980)

1940-1944

John Lorne Wright (1913-1996)

1944-1945

Teresa Moloney (1899-1983)

1945-1947

John Nathan Robert Clark (1912-1990)

1947-1949

Clifford P. Hansen

1949-1950

Anne Sims Crichton (1910-1994)

1950-1953

Harold Arthur Bathgate (1904-1983)

1953-1956

William Hugo Rentz (1926-2017)

1956-1970

Clifford Peter Hansen (1905-1986)

1970-1972

L. Harapiak

1972-1973

H. Jersak

Teachers

School Year

Teachers

1963-1964

John R. Fawcett, Garry D. Finlay, Mrs. Marilyn A. Hooper, John F. Orchard, Stewart Tuningley

Some of the other teachers who worked at Minitonas School included Janetta Crerar (1914-1915), Janet Braser (1915), L. C. Anderson (1916-1917), A. E. Anderson (1921), R. Pearlman (1922), Mary Koons (1921-1922), J. R. Williams (1921-1922), G. R. Prouse (1921-1922), Margaret G. Dudley (1923-1924), E. Turner (1923-1924), M. Thompson (1923-1924), H. Hassett (1923-1924), Ursula Koons (1929), Ada Till (1930), Ruth Voight (1932), Millicent Johnstone (1932), Jean Marr (1940), Dorothy Marie Slaughter (1943-1944), Norma Fulford (1944), Adena Tulman (1945), Jean Fulford (1949), John Wright (?-1944), John Park (1945-1946), Ruth Emisch (1975-?), John W. Carroll, and Stella Howelko.

Photos & Coordinates

Minitonas School

Minitonas School (circa 1909)
Source: Education Department Report, 1909, Manitoba Legislative Library.

The first Minitonas School building

The first Minitonas School building (no date) by J. S. Peach
Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs,
GR8461, A0233, C131-2, page 58.

The present Minitonas School building, erected in 1953

The present Minitonas School building, erected in 1953 at N52.08738, W101.04267 (July 2012)
Source: Gordon Goldsborough

Site Coordinates (lat/long): N52.08500, W101.03699
denoted by symbol on the map above

Sources:

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

“Minitonas, Man”, Western Canada Fire Underwriters’ Association map, 9 September 1916, Archives of Manitoba.

The Development of Education in Swan River Valley by J. N. R. Clark, MEd thesis, Faculty of Education, University of Manitoba, 1949.

“3800 pupils enrolled for 1963-1964 term,” Swan Valley Star and Times, 29 August 1963, page 1.

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.

Over the Rainbow: Memories of a Country School Teacher by Ruth Emisch, 1993.

Boots, Buggies & Buses: Swan Valley Schools in Quest of Education, Swan Valley School Division No. 35, circa 1998.

We thank Keven Van Camp and Nathan Kramer for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 11 September 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!