Historic Sites of Manitoba: Mountain School No. 367 (Municipality of Louise)

Link to:
Photos & Coordinates | Sources

The Mountain School District was established formally in February 1885 and a one-room schoolhouse operated at the southwest corner of SE36-2-10W in what is now the Municipality of Louise. It was built by J. Kerr for $90, with $250 of supplies sourced from Gordon & Ironside, and a further $600 debenture issued to finance the remaining construction costs as well as furnishing the schoolhouse. In 1892, the school was moved to NW36-2-10W. It remained there until it closed in July 1962. The school building was next moved to SW6-3-10W for use as a private residence. A commemorative sign, unveiled by former teacher Beatrice Frith on 1 July 1980, is situated on the former school site, on an unmanaged access road that may be impassable at times.

Among the teachers of Mountain School were James Best (1892), Miss Hill (1893), George Balfour (1896), D. W. Strachan (1896), Mr. J. Willow (1897), Mr. J. McTavish, Maggie Blaine, Ethel Blaine, Miss Dougall, Miss E. Cousins, Miss Kathryn [Katherine] Cousins (1915 & Fall 1920), Mrs. Petrie, Miss Olga Lalier, Miss E. Fargey, Clarence Douglas, Beatrice “Bea” Frith (Spring 1921, Spring 1938 - Spring 1940, pt November 1946 - June 1947, & Spring 1948), Chester M. Fraser (1923-1924), Olive Windsor, Nellie Armitage, Miss Rind, Shirley Hardy, Electa Graham, Ruth Helen Graham (Fall 1934 - Spring 1935), Annie Brewster Blackburn (Fall 1935 - Fall 1938), Edith Brown, Alice Laird (Fall 1941), Jessie Parsonage (January - pt April 1942), Dorothy Irene Freed (pt April - June 1942), Doris Evelyn Birston (Fall 1942 - Spring 1943), Mrs. Scales, Margaret Eleanor “Peggy” Rutherford (Fall 1944 - Spring 1945), Lucy Anne Bellay (Fall 1945 - Spring 1946), Kathleen M. G. L. Vance (August - pt November 1946), Minnie Jean Gleddon (Fall 1947), Rhoda Myrtle Scharf (Fall 1948 - Spring 1949), Jean Lovane Kenyon (Fall 1949), Margaret May Seward (Spring 1950 - Spring 1951), Myrtle Jane Jopp (Fall 1951 - Spring 1953), Janet Margaret Cousins (Fall 1953 - Spring 1954), Adelene Boyke (August-September 1957), Lois Jean Creith (October 1957 - June 1959), Ella Maxine Brown (Fall 1960 - Spring 1961), and Gladys Wood (Fall 1961 - Spring 1962).

Photos & Coordinates

Mountain School (no date) by W. J. Parr Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs, GR8461, A0233, C131-2, page 94. The former Mountain School building (circa 1986) Source: Historic Resources Branch, Public School Buildings Inventory, slide 613. Mountain School commemorative sign (2010) Source: Ed Grassick Site Coordinates (lat/long): N49.17734, W98.78371 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.

Turning Leaves: A History of La Riviere and District by La Riviere Historical Book Committee, c1979. [Manitoba Legislative Library, F5649.L38 Tur]

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

Manitoba School Records Collection, Mountain School District No. 367 - Daily Registers, GR9650, Archives of Manitoba.

Manitoba School Records Collection, Mountain School District No. 367 - Historical sketch by the Archibald Historical Museum, GR13336, Archives of Manitoba.

This page was prepared by Ed Grassick, Gordon Goldsborough, and Nathan Kramer.

Page revised: 1 September 2022

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