Historic Sites of Manitoba: Shellmouth School No. 292 (Shellmouth, RM of Riding Mountain West)

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

In 1883, the Shellmouth School District was organized formally at Shellmouth in what is now the Rural Municipality of Riding Mountain West. The first classes were held in tents during warm weather and in local homes during the cold weather. A school building was erected in 1884. It was replaced in 1910 by a two-storey structure built of locally manufactured concrete blocks. In 1912, it was consolidated with Emerald School No. 1578 to form Shellmouth Consolidated School No. 292.

The school was destroyed by fire on 20 December 1919 but classes continued in the local hall. In 1921, a three-classrom school was built. It closed permanently in 1968. The building is now used as a community hall and a nearby monument, erected in September 1987, commemorates the former school.

Principals

Period	Principal
1921-1935	Charles L. Miller
1935-1937	Walter George Crane (1906-1979)
1937-1938	Borden Brownlee Johnston (1911-1996)
1938-1940	William Edward “Bill” Scurfield (1915-1993)
1940-1942	Margaret Catherine Busch Wilson (1905-1986)
1942-1943	Eva Wendell
1943-1944	Charles Linwood “Charlie” Miller (1891-1958)
1944-1951	?
1951-1953	L. A. Haas
1953-1954	Jerry P. Rogan
1954-1955	T. M. Sherloski
1955-1959	Mrs. L. Haas

Teachers

Period	Teachers
1937-1938	Anna Winifred Large (grades 1-4), Louise Allison Swirtzer (grades 5-8), Walter George Crane (grades 9-11)
1938-1939	Borden Brownlee Johnston (grades 9-11), Anna Winifred Large (grades 1-4), Louise Allison Swirtzer (grades 5-8)

Among the teachers other who worked at Shellmouth School were Belle McTavish (1907), Angus Lorne Bonnycastle, and Ellen Elizabeth Wherrett.

Photos & Coordinates

Shellmouth School building with teacher Belle McTavish and students (1907) Source: Audrey & Duncan Waddell The original Shellmouth School building (no date) Source: Education Department Report, 1917, Manitoba Legislative Library. Shellmouth School building made of locally-manufactured concrete blocks (circa 1917) Source: Education Department Report, 1917, Manitoba Legislative Library. Shellmouth School (no date) by H. L. Albright Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs, GR8461, A0233, C131-1, page 4. Shellmouth School commemorative monument (June 2012) Source: Gordon Goldsborough Site Coordinates (lat/long): N50.93604, W101.47886 denoted by symbol on the map above

See also:

MHS Resources: Manitoba Bricks and Blocks

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.

School division half-yearly attendance reports (E 0757), Archives of Manitoba.

We thank Nathan Kramer and Audrey & Duncan Waddell for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 18 November 2020

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