Historic Sites of Manitoba: Oakhurst School No. 1114 (Municipality of Minitonas-Bowsman)

The Oakhurst School District was organized formally in April 1901. It operated a one-room wood frame school building on the northeast quarter of 22-36-25 west of the Principal Meridian in what is now the Municipality of Minitonas-Bowsman. The original building was later replaced, with the original sold and moved to SW36-36-25W. The second building was also a wood frame structure. In 1950, it was replaced by a metal quonset building, used until the school closed in June 1965. The former school building is no longer present at the site but a boulder and sign commemorate it.

The teachers who worked at Oakhurst School through the years were L. M.Ingham (1901), Elizabeth O’Higgins (1905), M. G. Manahaw (1905), J. Cameron (1906-1907), Mary H. Pinder (1908), Margaret L. Johnston (1908-1909), Orliff R. Phelps (1909-1910), Pearl Parker (1911), L. McLaughlin (1911), Dorothy Cope (1911-1912), Agnes Hannah (1912-1913, 1914-1915), Mary N. Hannah (1913), Gertrude Sargent (1916), Bertha Heyes (1916-1917), Leila Stephenson (1917), Edith Walker (1918), Arthur Brown (1918), M. M. O’Dell (1919-1920), Ethel Armstrong (1920), Richard Green (1921), Marion Brown (1921), G. Maunik (1922), E. Winteringham (1922), Lila Ingram (1923), John R. Williams (1923-1925), Florence E. Brown (1925-1926), Gertrude Trudeau (1926-1928), Volda Watson (1928-1930), Annie Marten (1930-1935), Jean Marr Niven (1935-1939), G. M. MacKinlay (1939), Anastasie Marie Ollivier (1940-1941), Myril Ella Cotton (1941), Cora Mary McKague (1942), Anne Booth (1942-1943), Ruby Cooper (1943-1944), Tillie Henkelman (1944-1945), J. Rebecca Clark (1945-1946), Olga Kolisnyk (1947), Francis Weselowki (1948), M. Zaiverucha (1949), Edith Kolisnyk (1950), Carol Kushko (1951), Alice Melinchuk (1951), John William Carrol (1952-1953), Val Kovachik (1954-1956), Nettie Zieleski (1957), Samuel Yaremko (1958-1960), Shirley Smith (1961-1962), Ann Batryn (1963), and Wilbert Klatt (1964).

The first Oakhurst School building (no date) by J. S. Peach Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs, GR8461, A0233, C131-2, page 60. Oakhurst School commemorative monument (July 2012) Source: Gordon Goldsborough Site Coordinates (lat/long): N52.11433, W100.94226 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.

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

We thank Nathan Kramer for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 4 February 2021

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