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The first school classes in Minnedosa were held in a log structure on Minnedosa Avenue opposite the present-day Court House. Between 1882 and 1883, it was replaced with a two-storey brick building designed by Winnipeg architect William T. Dalton and erected on the side of a hill on the southwest side of town. By 1897, the structure was condemned as unsafe and students were moved to makeshift classrooms in the town hall until a two-storey, four-room building, designed by Winnipeg architect George Browne, could be built the following year on Main Street South. It opened in October 1898. This school served the community’s needs alone until 1909 when overcrowding necessitated the construction of a second school, deemed the “North School”.
South School No. 1 was destroyed by fire on 19 February 1923 and was replaced in early 1924 by a one-storey, six-classroom structure. It closed in 1971 and was demolished. A commemorative plaque at the former school site was erected in July 1993.
Noteworthy graduates of the South School include William John Rose, Grace Anne Stewart, Ralph Pearson, Jim Wright, and Woodrow St. John.
Period
Principal
1884-1886
James Campbell (1842-1917)
1886-1890
?
1890-1891
R. Moir
1891-1900
George Allison Grierson (1867-1931)
1900-1902
Jonathan Hughes Arnett (1879-1953)
1902-1903
A. E. Bence
1903-1904
F. W. Turnbull
1905
A. E. Bence
1905-1906
David Bruce Huggins (1879-1955)
1906-1907
David Williamson Yuill (1878-1970)
1907-1909
Herbert Hanford “Harry” McIntosh (1880-1953)
1909-?
Some of the other teachers who taught at the South School included: Miss Murchison, Miss Leslie, James Campbell, Miss Montgomery, George A. Grierson, and Mr. A. J. Baker.
Period
Teachers
1902
records not available
1903
records not available
1904
records not available
1905
Saby Alexander (Fall), Christina G. Armit (Spring), A. E/P? Bence (senior grades, Spring), Margaret Dumsiuk?, Jamie A. Holden (Fall), David Bruce Huggins (senior grades, Fall), Nellie Rear, Maggie R. Stuart (Spring), Winifred S? Welwood, Nellie Wilson
1906
Saby G? Alexander (Spring), Annie S. Graham (Fall), Jamie A. Holden (Spring), David Bruce Huggins (senior grades, Spring), Millie Loftuso Nellie Rear, Jessie T. Wellwood (Fall), Nellie Wilson, David Williamson Yuill (senior grades, Fall), Winifred W. Yuill (Fall)
1907
Margaret Drummond, Anna S. Graham, Cora R. L. Fisher (Fall), Herbert Hanford “Harry” McIntosh (senior grades, Fall), Elta M. Moore (Fall), Nellie Rear, Ella Somerville (Fall), Jessie T. Wellwood (Spring), Nellie Wilson, David Williamson Yuill (senior grades, Spring), Winifred W. Yuill (Spring)
The first school in the vicinity of Minnedosa, built in 1883 southwest of the town (no date)
Source: S. J. McKee Archives, Minnedosa Womens Institute, Village History 1878-1956.Minnedosa South School No. 1, used from 1898 to 1923 (no date)
Source: S. J. McKee Archives, Minnedosa Womens Institute, Village History 1878-1956.Minnedosa South School No. 2 (no date) by W. C. Hartley
Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs,
GR8461, A0233, C131-1, page 81.Minnedosa South School plaque (August 2012)
Source: Gordon GoldsboroughSite Coordinates (lat/long): N50.24546, W99.83882
denoted by symbol on the map above
See also:
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Minnedosa North School No. 232 (Minnedosa)
Annual Reports of the Manitoba Department of Education, Manitoba Legislative Library.
A History of Minnedosa, 1878-1948 compiled by the Minnedosa Women’s Institute, 1948.
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.
Summative half-yearly returns for school districts (A 0051), GR0571, Archives of Manitoba.
School division half-yearly attendance reports (E 0757), Archives of Manitoba.
We thank Dorothy Brooking, John Perrin, and Nathan Kramer for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 4 March 2024
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