Historic Sites of Manitoba: Portage Collegiate Institute (Saskatchewan Avenue West, Portage la Prairie)

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

The cornerstone for the Portage Collegiate was laid in 1904 but the construction of the building was not completed until the next year. The eight-classroom brick structure was built by contractors F. G. Humber and W. J. Simmons at a cost of $21,400. Its five teachers, under the principalship of George Young, then assumed responsibility for the education of older children, formerly done at the Central School across the street. Over the years, eight more classrooms were added.

The building and all its contents were destroyed by fire in May 1954 and a replacement school was erected on the same site. A four-classroom addition, designed by the architectural firm of Smith Carter and Katelnikoff, was constructed in 1957.

Notable students of the Portage Collegiate included artist and writer Jackson Beardy, community activist Joseph Irvine Keeper, hockey player John Sherratt “Black Jack” Stewart, and four Premiers of Manitoba: Douglas Lloyd Campbell, Sterling Rufus Lyon, Walter Cox-Smith Weir, and Brian William Pallister.

Principals

Period	Principal
1882-1883	Mr. S. Phillips BA
1883-1885	John Houston (1848-1938)
1885-1895	School closed due to town bankruptcy
1895-1901	William Piritte Argue (1868-1965)
1901-1902	Herbert William Baker (1869-1959)
1902-1909	George Young (1865-?)
1909-1913	Samuel Carson Lee (1872-1926)
1913-1936	James Reid Hamilton (1861-1954)
1936-1949	George Isaac Herman Garrett (1884-1977)
1949-1954	Peter Renwick Stewart (1902-1974)
1954-1974	William Charles Taylor (1914-2004)
1974-1996	Gudjon Ray Johnson
1996-2010	James W. “Jim” Pehura
2010-present	Gregg Waldvogel

Teachers

School Year	Teachers
1895-1896	Alice Mary Ham, ?
1896-1897	Alice Mary Ham, ?
1897-1898	Alice Mary Ham, ?
1898-1899	Alice Mary Ham, ?
1899-1951	?
1951-1952	Miss Lillian P. Strom, A. D. Brady, Miss Etta Crewson, George Gordon Grigg, Mrs. M. Lazowska, Miss Edith MacDonald, F. C. Metcalfe, W. Moskal, Miss Frances McColl, Miss Agnes Souter, Mrs. Eva Sykes, W. C. Taylor

Photos & Coordinates

Portage Collegiate Building (1905) Source: Education Department Report, 1905, Manitoba Legislative Library. Postcard view of the Portage Collegiate (no date) Source: Gordon Goldsborough, 2013-0086 Portage Collegiate (no date) by A. B. Fallis Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs, GR8461, A0233, C131-1, page 5. Portage Collegiate (March 2021) Source: Rose Kuzina Site Coordinates (lat/long): N49.97253, W98.29723 denoted by symbol on the map above

See also:

MHS Centennial Organization: Portage Collegiate Institute

Lansdowne College - A Product of the Depression of 1885 by Norman J. Williamson
Manitoba Pageant, Volume 21, Number 4, Summer 1976

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Lansdowne College (Portage la Prairie)

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Arthur Meighen High School (201 River Road, Portage la Prairie)

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Central School / Portage Normal School / Prince Charles School (Third Street Southwest, Portage la Prairie)

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

Sources:

“Portage la Prairie,” Manitoba Daily Free Press, 21 December 1882, page 8.

“Educational [Protestant Public Schools],” Manitoba Daily Free Press, 30 December 1882, page 5.

“Portage la Prairie [Successor to Mr. Phillips],” Manitoba Daily Free Press, 11 April 1883, page 1.

“Reportorial round [Mr. W. S. Argue],” Winnipeg Daily Tribune, 3 August 1895, page 8.

“Reportorial round [William P. Argue],” Winnipeg Daily Tribune, 26 December 1895, page 8.

“Portage lists teaching staff as school opens,” Winnipeg Free Press, 5 September 1951, page 34.

“$355,000 blaze destroys collegiate at Portage,” Winnipeg Free Press, 27 May 1954, page 1.

“School addition tender notice [Portage la Prairie Collegiate],” Winnipeg Free Press, 25 January 1957, page 17.

A History of Portage la Prairie and Surrounding District by Anne M. Collier, 1970, pages 146-7.

We thank Nathan Kramer, James Kostuchuk, Rose Kuzina, and Liliana Lopez for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 22 December 2022

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