Historic Sites of Manitoba: Vestri School No. 1669 (Municipality of Bifrost-Riverton)

The Vestri School District was established formally in March 1913 and a one-room schoolhouse operated in what is now the Municipality of Bifrost-Riverton. In 1926, it was moved to at SW6-23-2E. A new building was constructed in 1941 and a teacherage was added in 1945. In 1966, the school closed and the district was dissolved. Its catchment area became part of the Arborg Consolidated School District and later the Evergreen School Division. The teacherage was sold and moved to Arborg. The school was sold and moved to Geysir. No vestige remains at the original site.

The teachers of Vestri School were Bertha Johnson, Nellie Taylor, Stella Stevenson, William Olson, H. Sigurdson, Kristin Brynjolfson Stefanson, G. J. Olafson, Ingibjorg C. Bjornson, Lois C. Lund, Grace Arnold, Agnes Danielson, Halldora Finnson, Eleanor Martin, Ronald Sumka, Bjorg Jonsdottir, Kristin S. Frederickson, Una Anderson, Bentina Erlendson, Nina Skaftfeld, Emily Johnson, Einar Gislason (1945-1946), Gladys Arnold, Edna Matheson, Emily Martin, Joyce Spring, Emily Lindal, Bernice Johnson Finnson, Helga Kernested, Jonasina Stefanson, Frank Ryan, Sigurlaug S. Johnson, Kristin Brynjolfson, Bjarnfridur Marteinson, Gudrun Marteinson, Halldora Sigurdson, Helga Gudmundson, G. L. Marsh, Phyllis Brown, Shirley Baumgartner, and Victor Borgford.

The original Vestri School building (no date) by H. D. Cumming Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs, GR8461, A0233, C131-3, page 13. Former site of Vestri School (June 2019) Source: Rose Kuzina Site Coordinates (lat/long): N50.95036, W97.31600 denoted by symbol on the map above

Sources:

Arborg topographic map, 62I/14, Edition 1, Series A743 [Archives of Manitoba].

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.

A Century Unfolds: History of Arborg and District, 1889-1987, researched and compimled by the Arborg Historical Society, 1987. [Legislative Library of Manitoba, F5649.A73 Cen]

We thank Rose Kuzina for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 15 July 2019

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