Historic Sites of Manitoba: Oakville School No. 655 (Oakville, RM of Portage la Prairie)

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

The bell on top of a monument in front of Oakville School came from the preceding school building erected in 1906 that was destroyed by fire in May 1959. That school resulted from the consolidation of several surrounding smaller schools, including Elm River School No. 622, Oakville School No. 655, Fortier School No. 741, Ingleside School No. 831, Beautiful Valley School No. 924, Mill Creek School No. 929, and East Curtis School No. 1187.

The present Oakville School was designed by the Winnipeg architectural firm of Smith Carter Searle and Associates and constructed in 1960 by the Surety Construction Company. A monument beside the school was erected in 1970 by the citizens of Oakville and district.

Principals

Period	Principal
1915-1917	Agnes Davidson (c1868-?)
1917-1918	George Robert Farrar Prowse (1860-1946)
1918-1923	John Houston
1923-1926	William George Delgaty (1901-1988)
1926-1927	Eva Calverley (1895-1988)
1927-1929	Winnifred Dorcas Boughton (1900-?)
1929-1932	Orville Ernest Holmes (1905-1987)
1932-1934	Allan J. Ryckman (1910-1982)
1934-1936	Stanley Corbett “Stan” Henderson (1910-1997)
1936-1939	Thomas Ambrose Farenhurst (1907-1977)
1939-1941	James A. Jickling
1941-1942	Benjamin “Ben” [Pope] Popeski (1913-1995)
1942-1945	Austin Alfred Dale (1911-2003)
1945-1955	Arthur Cecil Diehl (1910-1990)
1955-1957	James H. G. Smith
1957-1958	Roy E. Lavack
1958-1959	Jean Paul Guenette
1959-1963	John H. Arnason
1963-1974	Emily Whyte “Ruth” Holliday (1914-2011)

Teachers

Among the teachers of Oakville School was Margaret Creighton.

Photos & Coordinates

Oakville School building erected in 1891 by Portage la Prairie builder and architect James A. MacDonald (circa 1906) Source: Education Department Report, 1906, Manitoba Legislative Library. Oakville School building erected in 1906 (circa 1906) Source: Education Department Report, 1906, Manitoba Legislative Library. Sketch of the Oakville School building by Charlotte Jones Source: University Women’s Club of Portage la Prairie Oakville School (no date) Source: Rob McInnes, MN1426 Oakville School (circa 1925) Source: Gordon Goldsborough, 2022-0061 Oakville School under construction (August 1960) Source: PCI Archive, Vopni Press Collection, VP-1-00276-004. Oakville School under construction (August 1960) Source: PCI Archive, Vopni Press Collection, VP-1-00276-002. Oakville School under construction (August 1960) Source: PCI Archive, Vopni Press Collection, VP-1-00276-001. Oakville School commemorative monument (September 2010) Source: Gordon Goldsborough Site Coordinates (lat/long): N49.93095, W98.00404 denoted by symbol on the map above

See also:

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Oakville North School No. 655 (Oakville, RM of Portage la Prairie)

Manitoba Business: Smith Carter and Katelnikoff / Smith Carter Architects and Engineers / Architecture49

Manitoba Business: Surety Construction Company

Sources:

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

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.

Rural Schools of Portage la Prairie School Division #24 by Muriel Wright, 1996.

“Tenders [Oakville School],” Winnipeg Tribune, 22 April 1960, page 27.

Biographical Dictionary of Architects in Canada, 1800-1950 by Robert G. Hill, Toronto.

We thank Rob McInnes, Darryl Toews, and George Stewart for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 10 April 2025

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