Historic Sites of Manitoba: Stonewall School No. 108 / R. W. Bobby Bend School (Second Avenue North, Stonewall)
Link to:
Principals | Vice-Principals | Teachers | Photos & Coordinates | Sources
The Stonewall School District was established formally in November 1880 and the first schoolhouse, a building measuring 24 by 36 feet and housing 88 students, sat on Fourth Street East, north of Second Avenue, in Stonewall. As the demand for education grew, classes were held in the Rockwood Registry office at 237 Second Avenue North and, later, in the Orange Hall. Still later, overflow students were moved to the Masonic Hall on First Street East.
In 1891, a four-classroom brick veneer building at a site to the south of Second Avenue North was designed by Winnipeg architect Walter Chesterton was constructed by Murray and McDiarmid. By 1905, it was facing severe overcrowding so a second four-classroom building, made of local stone, was designed by Winnipeg architect Frank Robert Evans and built near the first school by John Gunn and Sons in 1907. It opened officially on 28 January 1908.
The original brick building was used until it closed in 1955 and was demolished in 1957. It was replaced by a new brick school for grades 1 to 8, designed by the Winnipeg architectural firm of Smith Carter and Katelnikoff and built by Malcom Construction. It was named R. W. Bobby Bend School for educator and politician Robert William “Bobby” Bend. An addition to the building was made in 1983.
Students in grades 9 to 12 were taught in the stone school until 1961 when they moved to the newly constructed Stonewall Collegiate. The stone building was demolished in June 1980.
A monument in front of the present school building, unveiled in 1994, commemorates the two earlier schools.
Principals
Vice-Principals
Period |
Vice-Principal |
1908-1910 |
J. C. Duncan |
Teachers
School Year |
Teachers |
1887-1888 |
William L. Mussell, Miss Ida Shafer |
1888-1889 |
Mr. Page, Miss Ida Shafer |
1889-1890 |
Frederick Langdon Davis, Miss Maude Morgan, Miss Ida Shafer |
1890-1891 |
E. W. Montgomery, Miss Ida Shafer |
1891-1892 |
Miss Ida Shafer |
1892-1893 |
Miss Nellie Moore, Miss Ida Thompson |
1893-1894 |
Miss Nellie Moore, Miss Ida Thompson |
1894-1895 |
Miss Maggie Arnett, Miss Henderson, Miss Violet Kyle, Robert Moir, Miss Nellie Moore |
1895-1896 |
Miss Maggie Arnett, Miss Hall, Miss May Montgomery, Miss Nellie Moore, Miss Parott, Helen Storey |
1896-1897 |
Miss Bowman, Miss Hall, Miss May Montgomery |
1897-1898 |
Miss Bowman, Miss Cameron, Miss Hall, Miss May Montgomery |
1898-1899 |
Miss Cameron, Miss Hall, Miss Laura Little, Miss May Montgomery, Miss Julia Peach |
1899-1900 |
Miss Cameron, Miss Laura Little, Miss Julia Peach, Miss Skettle |
1900-1901 |
Miss Cameron, Miss Laura Little, Miss Julia Peach, Miss Thornton |
1901-1902 |
Miss Cameron, Miss Lightcap, Miss Laura Little, Miss Marnie, Miss Julia Peach, Miss Thornton |
1902-1903 |
Miss Argue, Mr. Brown, Miss Lightcap, Miss Julia Peach |
1903-1904 |
Miss Argue, Miss Lightcap, Miss McCauley, Miss Julia Peach |
1904-1905 |
Miss Argue, Miss Cole, Miss A. Corbett, Miss Lightcap, Miss McCauley, Miss Belle Smith |
1905-1906 |
Miss Brown, Miss Cable, Miss Alice E. Cooper, Miss A. Corbett, Miss Eileen Elliott, Miss Huggins |
1906-1907 |
Miss Cable, Miss Card, Miss Alice E. Cooper (grades 4-6), Miss Eileen Elliott (grades 3-4), Miss Jennie Montgomery (grades 1-3) |
1907-1908 |
Miss Card, Miss Alice E. Cooper, Miss Eileen Elliott, Miss Jennie Montgomery |
1908-1909 |
Miss Card (grade 1), Miss Alice E. Cooper (grades 4-5), Miss Eileen Elliott (grades 6-7), Miss Jennie Montgomery, Miss L. Patrick (grades 2-3) |
1909-1910 |
Miss Card, Miss Alice E. Cooper, Miss Eileen Elliott, Miss Jennie Montgomery, Miss L. Patrick |
1910-1920 |
? |
1920-1921 |
Barbara Stratton (grade 7) |
1921-1922 |
Eli Robinson (grade 8) |
1922-? |
? |
?-1934 |
Iva Jettie Stewart |
1934-1952 |
? |
1952-? |
Sam Donen, ? |
?-1954 |
? |
1954-1955 |
Robert William “Bobby” Bend (grade 12), Claudia Ruth Doern (grades 4-5), Annie Margaret Gillies (grade 10), Eleanor Margaret Handley (grade 1), Patricia Anne Larson (grade 9), Walter Phillip Matthewson (grades 7-8), Louise McPhedran (grade 11), Violet Beatrice Paterson (grades 3-4), John Senkiw (grades 6-7), Marian Florence Senkiw (grade 2) |
Among the other teachers at Stonewall School were John Vanderstoel, Robert Cameron Mulligan, D. Ruth Matheson, Sara Elizabeth Buchanan, Jane A. Nisbet, Walter C. Bilych, Lionel T. Glaser, Ruby Arndt, and Ronald Morris Bean.
Photos & Coordinates
See also:
Memorable Manitobans: Robert William “Bobby” Bend (1914-1999)
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Stonewall Collegiate (297 Fifth Street West, Stonewall)
Manitoba Business: Smith Carter and Katelnikoff / Smith Carter Architects and Engineers / Architecture49
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.
Manitoba School Records Collection, Stonewall School District No. 108 Daily Registers, GR2044, Archives of Manitoba.
“Tender notice [Stonewall School],” Winnipeg Tribune, 30 August 1955, page 28.
School Days, School Days: Stonewall Collegiate, 1891-1961 by Ernie Webb and Joyce Rose, Stonewall, c1994.
We thank Nathan Kramer for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 22 December 2022
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