Historic Sites of Manitoba: Ravenshoe School No. 1261 (Municipality of North Norfolk)

The Ravenshoe School District was established formally in November 1903 and, early the following year, debentures were issued to finance the construction of a frame one-room school building on the northeast quarter of 14-11-12W in what is now the Municipality of North Norfolk. The building served as a classroom and social centre from September 1904 to June 1941, when it closed due to low enrollment. It reopened in September 1949 and was renovated in 1953 with a basement and indoor toilets. The school closed permanently in June 1962 and students henceforth attended Austin School No. 154. The building was sold for use as a granary but, as of 2010, it appeared vacant. A monument at the site was dedicated to students, teachers and residents of the surrounding community, at a ceremony on 5 July 1992.

The teachers who worked at Ravenshoe School included: Dora Faryon (1905), Olive Dryden (1906), Gertie Macdougall (1907-1909), Bertha Collier (1910), Jane Gardner (1910), J. L. Crammond (1911), Edith P. Lowe (1911-1912), Kathleen Johnson (1913), Viola Hipwell (1913-1915), Eva Morrison (1915), Reta Hipwell (1916-1917), Hannah I. Lamb (1917-1918), Lillace G. Calverley (1918-1919), J. Maude Phillips (1919-1921), C. L. Fraser (1921), B. Foreman (1921), Margaret M. Patterson (1922-1923), Della M. Garrell (1923-1924), Muriel McIver (1924-1925), Edna M. McIntosh (1925-1927), Jane Campbell (1927-1929), Helen Dorothy Williams (1929-1931), Mary Louise McLaren (1931-1932), Georgina S. Duncan (1932-1936), Vera Irene Matthews (1936-1938), Carmen S. K. Smallman (1938-1940), Myrtle Rosabelle Campbell (1940-1941), Mrs. Marjorie May Williams (1949-1953), Evelyn J. Rempel (1953-1954), Ardeth R. Swanton (1954-1955), Dorothy C. Wilson (1955-1957), Fern McPherson (1957-1958), Betty M. McCullough (1958-1960), Marion E. Graham (1960-1961), Donna Jean Robinson (1961-1962).

The former Ravenshoe School building

The former Ravenshoe School building (September 2010)
Source: Gordon Goldsborough

The former Ravenshoe School building

The former Ravenshoe School building (August 2021)
Source: Rose Kuzina

The former Ravenshoe School building

The former Ravenshoe School building (August 2021)
Source: Rose Kuzina

Interior of the former Ravenshoe School building

Interior of the former Ravenshoe School building (August 2021)
Source: Rose Kuzina

Interior of the former Ravenshoe School building

Interior of the former Ravenshoe School building (August 2021)
Source: Rose Kuzina

Ravenshoe School commemorative monument

Ravenshoe School commemorative monument (September 2010)
Source: Gordon Goldsborough

Ravenshoe School commemorative monument

Ravenshoe School commemorative monument (August 2022)
Source: David Ford

Site Coordinates (lat/long): N49.93058, W98.99605
denoted by symbol on the map above

Sources:

A Rear View Mirror: A History of the Austin and Surrounding Districts by Anne M. Collier, Altona: Friesen Printing, 1967.

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.

Through Fields and Dreams: A History of the Rural Municipality of North Norfolk and MacGregor by The History Book Committee of the North Norfolk-MacGregor Archives, 1998, pages 1145-1150.

We thank Rose Kuzina and David Ford for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 5 August 2022

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