Historic Sites of Manitoba: Montgomery School No. 357 (RM of Wallace-Woodworth)

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Photos & Coordinates | Sources

Montgomery School District was formally established in January 1885 with classes held in a frame building on the farm of William Montgomery on the southwest quarter of 22-11-26 west of the Principal Meridian, in what is now the Rural Municipality of Wallace-Woodworth. In 1912, the original building was replaced with a brick structure which was used until January 1965 when the school closed and its remaining students went to Virden Consolidated School No. 144. In 1967, the building was purchased by the local lodge of the Canadian Order of Foresters for use as a hall and community centre. After dissolution of the lodge in 1998, the Wallace Community Club assumed responsibility for the hall. It was demolished in 2005. A brick model and plaque dedicated by former students in 2009 commemorates it.

Among the teachers who worked at Montgomery School through the years were Maggie Jones (1885), Nellie Elliott (1886), Lizzie A. Schultis (1887), Mary Steele (1888), Alfred B. Stewart (1888), Anne R. Lang (1889), Jennie Finn (1889), John Wesley Peters (1890-1892), Thomas B. Green (1892-1894), Hattie Andrews (1895-1896), William Houston (1897-1901), H. Louise Proutt (1902-1904), W. Rogers (1904), Nellie M. Emmond (1905), Maude Carmichael (1906), Rose L. Collins (1907-1908), Mary F. Beattie (1908-1909), Margaret Mackay (1909-1910), Jean Rothnie (1910-1911), R. Mary Dodds (1911-1913), Isabella Lea (1913-1914), Leta McFarland (1915-1917), A. Merle Titmus (1918), Merle Norsworthy (1919), Elva E. McPhadgen (1919), Henry Herbert McKeen (1920), Violet Moir (1920-1922), Nora Davidson (1922-1923), Bertha Renwick (1923-1924), Violet M. Moir (1924-1925), Nellie M. Gable (1925-1926), Nevada Mattick (1926-1927), Ada P. Herkos (1927-1930), Maude Mountain (1930-1932), Ada Heritage (1932), Agnes Bannerman (1932), Miss Swartzman (1932), Ethel G. Stewart (1933-1935), Dora A. Vincent (1935-1937), Margaret E. Montgomery (1937-1938), Shirley Johnson (1938-1940), Jennie Bonner (1940-1942), Grace Williams (1942-1943), Margery Bees (1943-1944), Mrs. G. Croy (1943-1944), Ina Smith (1944-1945), Marjorie Wilson (1945-1946), William Davison (1945-1946), Otto Perlette (1946-1947), Florence Twigg (1947-1948, 1949-1951), Marjorie Kinnaird (1948-1949), Jeneva Wood (1951-1952), Charlotte Wilson (1952-1957), Shirley Ivey (1957-1958), Mrs. A. Paul (1957-1958), Mrs. M. Harkness (1957-1958), Mrs. Cameron (1957-1958), Mrs. Scramsted (1958-1959), Diana Rae (1959-1961), Mrs. A. Paul (1959-1961), and Mrs. T. Tapp (1962-1965).

Photos & Coordinates

Montgomery School (no date) by W. R. Beveridge Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs, GR8461, A0233, C131-1, page 26. Montgomery School (November 1985) Source: Manitoba Historic Resources Branch, HRR4358. The former Montgomery School building (circa 1986) Source: Historic Resources Branch, Public School Buildings Inventory, slide 1447. Interior of the former Montgomery School building (circa 1986) Source: Historic Resources Branch, Public School Buildings Inventory, slide 1451. Montgomery School monument (September 2011) Source: Gordon Goldsborough Montgomery School monument (May 2022) Source: Rose Kuzina Site Coordinates (lat/long): N49.93122, W100.96513 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.

We thank Nathan Kramer and Rose Kuzina for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 17 November 2022

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