Historic Sites of Manitoba: Overhill School No. 2084 (RM of Portage la Prairie)

The Overhill School District was organized formally in 1921 and a one-room schoolhouse was erected the next year at NE22-10-7W in the Rural Municipality of Portage la Prairie. The building burned down in March 1951 and was replaced by a new one constructed later that year at a cost of $10,000. It closed permanently in June 1967 when its land became part of the Portage la Prairie School Division. The school, barn, and land were sold, with the school being used as a private residence. It burned in May 1987. A monument to the pioneers, trustees, teachers and students of Overhill School was dedicated at a reunion on 2 August 1992.

Some of the teachers who worked at Overhill School through the years were Nora Maguire (daughter of T. M. Maguire, 1922-1923), Leonard Goldsborough (1948-1949), Gordon Gunn (1950-1951), Pearl McLaughry, and Lorraine Lestage.

Students beside the original Overhill School building (1948) Source: Leonard Goldsborough Students beside the original Overhill School building (1948) Source: Leonard Goldsborough Former school sign displayed at reunion (August 1992) Source: Leonard Goldsborough Former Overhill students and teacher Leonard Goldsborough (right) at monument unveiling (August 1992) Source: Leonard Goldsborough Overhill School commemorative monument (August 2010) Source: Gordon Goldsborough Overhill School commemorative monument (April 2023) Source: Rose Kuzina Site Coordinates (lat/long): N49.85719, W98.32442 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.

“Former school buns,” Portage Daily Graphic, 13 May 1987.

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

We thank Janice Goldsborough and Rose Kuzina for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 4 May 2023

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