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Designed by Brandon architect W. A. Elliott and built in 1902, the Rapid City School in Rapid City replaced an earlier school established in 1881. It became Rapid City Consolidated School No. 2392 in January 1961, combining Rapid City School with several rural schools, including Little Saskatchewan School No. 134, Wallace School No. 405, McBride School No. 558, Centreview School No. 858, and Oakleigh Union School No. 914. In 1968, it joined Rolling River School Division.
After the school closed, it was used as a local museum and cultural centre until around 2004. Beside the former school building is an old telephone exchange building. The Manitoba Telephone System donated it and an operator's board to the museum and they were moved to the grounds on 8 November 1977 after celebrating Rapid City being the final town in Manitoba to receive the dial system. In 1985, the Ralston Colony milk house was donated to the museum by Don and Vivian Sharpe.
A plaque erected on the school grounds by the Historic Sites Advisory Board of Manitoba commemorates Frederick Philip Grove, who taught at various schools in south-central Manitoba before moving to Ontario in 1929. He is buried in the southwest corner of the Rapid City Cemetery.
This became a municipally-designated heritage building in 2014.
Period
Principal
1881-1882
?
1882-1884
Frederick Laurence Schaffner (1855-1935)
1884-1897
?
1897-1899
John Whyte (1850-1927)
1899-1901
John Wesley Peters (1863-1962)
1901
Mr. Laidlaw
1901-1905
George Albert Sproule (1872-1936)
1905-1907
Duncan Crerar (1877-1910)
1907-1916
Charles T. Cresswell (1872-1961)
1916-1918
Harold Elwin Riter (1892-1967)
1918-1920
Arthur Herbert Hoole (1889-1991)
1920-1922
Benjamin Hodkinson (1864-1948)
1922-1924
Frederick Philip Grove (1871-1948)
1924-1926
Samuel Stewart Bryan (1889-?)
1926-1929
Wilfred Gilbert Pearce (1893-1975)
1929-1937
John Sigfus Helgason (?-1978)
1937-1942
John Samuell Dickison (1906-1995)
1942-1944
Garnet Milton Morrison (1915-1992)
1944-1946
John Ernest Ingot (?-2001)
1946-1956
Archibald George Hickling (1910-1968)
1956-1957
Frank Cecil Jacobs (1914-2002)
1957-1965
Robert Octavius Picken “Barney” Bolton (1907-1985)
1965-1967
Edwin Fedak
Period
Principal
1951-1952
Samuel Donen (1918-1990)
School Year
Teachers
1881-1882
?
1882-1884
Miss Allan (junior grades), Miss J. Butcher (junior grades), Frederick L. Schaffner (senior grades)
1884-1917
?
1917-1918
Miss I. W. Clapp (grades 1-2, August-November), Ruby G. Dunlop (grade 1-2 substitute, November-December), Etta Peter (grades 1-2, January-June), Harold E. Riter (grades 9-11), Janie M. Sinclair (grades 5-8), Aneta Jean Whyte (grades 3-5)
1918-1919
?
1919-1920
?
1920-1921
?
1921-1922
?
1922-1923
?
1923-1924
?
1924-1925
Samuel Stewart Bryan (grades 9-11), Catherine Grove (grades 6-8), Mary Rosella Pallock (grades 4-5), Mrs. E. J. White (grades 1-3)
1925-1926
Samuel Stewart Bryan (grades 9-11), Catherine Grove (grades 6-8), Mary Rosella Pallock (grades 4-5), Mrs. E. J. White (grades 1-3)
1926-1927
Catherine Grove (grades 6-8), B. J. McNiven (grades 9-10), Mary Rosella Pallock (grades 4-5), Wilfred Gilbert Pearce (grade 11), Mrs. E. J. White (grades 1-3)
1927-1928
Doris Marjorie Forster (grades 1-2), Catherine Grove (grades 6-8), S. Laing (grades 1-2, 1928 substitute), B. J. McNiven (grades 9-10), Wilfred Gilbert Pearce (grade 11), Edna I. A. Shier (grades 3-5)
1928-1929
Doris Marjorie Forster (grades 1-2), Catherine Grove (grades 6-8), B. J. McNiven (grades 9-10), Wilfred Gilbert Pearce (grade 11), E. M. Riesberry (grades 3-5, 1929 substitute), Edna I. A. Shier (grades 3-5)
1929-1930
Mary Bell Currie (grades 6-8), Doris Marjorie Forster (grades 1-2), John Sigfus Helgason (grade 11), Anne Marguerite Loutit (grades 9-10), Elizabeth Mae Taylor (grades 3-5)
1930-1931
M. Carol (grades 9-10, 1930), Thomas Leslie Fox (grades 6-8), Margaret Scott Fraser (grades 9-10), John Sigfus Helgason (grade 11), Hazel Anna McKay (grades 3-5), Margaret Elizabeth Ross (grades 1-2)
1931-1932
Thomas Leslie Fox (grades 6-8), Margaret Scott Fraser (grades 9-10), John Sigfus Helgason (grade 11), Hazel Anna McKay (grades 3-5), Margaret Elizabeth Ross (grades 1-2)
1932-1933
Jennie M. Bowyer (grades 9-10), Thomas Leslie Fox (grades 6-8), John Sigfus Helgason (grade 11), Hazel Anna McKay (grades 3-5), Margaret Elizabeth Ross (grades 1-2)
1933-1934
Jennie M. Bowyer (grades 9-10), Thomas Leslie Fox (grades 6-8), John Sigfus Helgason (grade 11), Hazel Anna McKay (grades 3-5), Margaret Elizabeth Ross (grades 1-2)
1934-1935
Jennie M. Bowyer (grades 9-10), Thomas Leslie Fox (grades 6-8), John Sigfus Helgason (grade 11), Hazel Anna McKay (grades 3-5), Margaret Elizabeth Ross (grades 1-2)
1935-1936
Jennie M. Bowyer (grades 9-10), Thomas Leslie Fox (grades 6-8), John Sigfus Helgason (grade 11), Hazel Anna McKay (grades 3-5), Margaret Elizabeth Ross (grades 1-2)
1936-1937
Thomas Leslie Fox (grades 6-8), Marjorie Augusta Graham (grades 1-2), Gertrude Olive Kristinson (grades 3-5), John Sigfus Helgason (grades 9-11)
1937-1938
John Samuell Dickison (grades 9-11), Thomas Leslie Fox (grades 6-8), Marjorie Augusta Graham (grades 1-2), Gertrude Olive Kristinson (grades 3-5)
1938-1939
John Samuell Dickison (grades 9-11), Thomas Leslie Fox (grades 6-8), Marjorie Augusta Graham (grades 1-2), Gertrude Olive Kristinson (grades 3-5)
1939-1940
Ada Margaret Allen (grades 3-5), John Samuell Dickison (grades 9-11), Thomas Leslie Fox (grades 6-8), Margaret Helen Jasper (grades 1-2)
1940-1941
Ada Margaret Allen (grades 3-5), John Samuell Dickison (grades 9-11), Nellie Louise Finch (grades 1-2, 1940), Thomas Leslie Fox (grades 6-8), Annie Marion Wright (grades 1-2, 1941)
1941-1942
Ada Margaret Allen (grades 3-5), John Samuell Dickison (grades 9-11), Thomas Leslie Fox (grades 6-8), Ruth Mary Todd (grades 1-2)
1942-1943
Ada Margaret Allen (grades 3-5), Garnet Milton Morrison (grades 9-11), Ruth Mary Todd (grades 1-2), Irene Blanche Towle (grades 6-8)
1943-1944
Ada Margaret Allen (grades 3-5), Garnet Milton Morrison (grades 9-11), Myrtle Elizabeth Townsend (grades 1-2), Irene Blanche Towle (grades 6-8)
1944-1945
Ada Margaret Allen (grades 3-5), John Ernest Ingot (grades 9-11), A. G. McQuinn (grades 1-2, 1945 substitute), Myrtle Elizabeth Townsend (grades 1-2), Irene Blanche Towle (grades 6-8)
1945-1946
Mrs. M. E. Glenn (grades 6-8), Kathleen Violet Harkins (grades 6-8, 1946), Barbara Bradley Hunt (grades 1-2), John Ernest Ingot (grades 9-11), Alice Grace Widdicombe (grades 3-5)
1946-1947
Margaret Isabelle Fallis (grades 4-6), Archibald George Hickling (grades 9-11), Barbara Bradley Hunt (grades 1-3), Mae Milne (grades 7-8)
1947-1948
Margaret Isabelle Fallis (grades 4-6), Archibald George Hickling (grades 9-11), Mae Milne (grades 7-8), Harriet Arva Scarlett (grades 1-3)
1948-1949
Shirley Patricia Dalgarno (grades 7-8), Archibald George Hickling (grades 9-11), Harriet Arva Scarlett (grades 1-3), Margaret Levina Wilkie (grades 4-6)
1949-1950
Archibald George Hickling (grades 9-11), Harriet Arva Scarlett (grades 1-4), Margaret Levina Wilkie (grades 5-8)
1950-1951
Archibald George Hickling (grades 9-11), Harriet Arva Scarlett (grades 1-4), Margaret Levina Wilkie (grades 5-8)
1951-1952
Samuel Donen (grades 9-10), Archibald George Hickling (grades 11-12), Harriet Arva Scarlett (grades 1-4), Margaret Levina Wilkie (grades 5-8)
1952-1953
Archibald George Hickling (grades 11-12), Dr. Stephan Kossak (grades 9-10), Annie E. Lawson (grades 1-4), Miss J. Nykolaishen (grades 9-10, 1952), Margaret Levina Wilkie (grades 5-8)
1953-1954
Florence Jessie Chambers (grades 1-4), Archibald George Hickling (grades 11-12), Margaret Joan Lomonaco (grades 9-10), Margaret Levina Wilkie (grades 5-8)
1954-1955
Florence Jessie Chambers (grades 3-5), Archibald George Hickling (grades 11-12), Margaret Joan Lomonaco (grades 9-10), Lily Schoenrath (grades 1-2), Margaret Levina Wilkie (grades 6-8)
1955-1956
Florence Jessie Chambers (grades 3-5), Helen Jean Hampton (grades 9-10), Archibald George Hickling (grades 11-12), Lily Schoenrath (grades 1-2), Margaret Levina Wilkie (grades 6-8)
1956-1957
Tannis Yvonne Arbuckle (grades 9-10), Florence Jessie Chambers (grades 5-6), Frank Cecil Jacobs (grades 11-12), Ellen Elaine McCullough (grades 1-2), Arlene Lorna McDonald (grades 3-4), Margaret Levina Wilkie (grades 7-8)
1957-1958
Robert Octavius Picken “Barney” Bolton (grades 10-11), Florence Jessie Chambers (grades 4-5), Rosaline Chastko (grades 9 & 12), Arlene Lorna McDonald (grades 2-3), Elsie Taylor (grades 1-3), Margaret Levina Wilkie (grades 6-8)
1958-1959
Robert Octavius Picken “Barney” Bolton (grades 11-12), Florence Jessie Chambers (grades 4-5), Nicholas Constantinesco (grades 9-10), Arlene Lorna McDonald (grades 2-3), Elsie Taylor (grades 1-2), Margaret Levina Wilkie (grades 6-8)
1959-1960
?
1960-1961
?
1961-1962
?
1962-1963
?
1963-1964
?
1964-1965
?
1965-1966
Mrs. Merle Arbuckle, Mrs. Elsie Boys, Steve Dmytriw, Miss Ruth Jacobs, Mrs. Delce Shanks
1966-1967
Mrs. Elsie Boys, Steve Dmytriw, Morris J. Stefaniuk
Among the other teachers of Rapid City School was Effie Weir (early 1920s).
Rapid City School (circa 1925) by William C. Hartley
Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs,
GR8461, A0233, C131-1, page 41.
Rapid City School (1967)
Source: Archives of Manitoba, Architectural Survey - Rapid City 3.
Rapid City School (1968)
Source: Archives of Manitoba, George Harris Fonds, Acc. 1979-141, P7454, Album 21, Page 41.
The former Rapid City School building (June 2011)
Source: Gordon Goldsborough
Rear of the former Rapid City School building (June 2020)
Source: Rose Kuzina
Former Manitoba Telephone System building beside the school building (June 2020)
Source: Rose Kuzina
Former Ralston Colony milk house building (June 2020)
Source: Rose Kuzina
Grove monument on the school grounds (June 2011)
Source: Gordon GoldsboroughSite Coordinates (lat/long): N50.11905, W100.03604
denoted by symbol on the map above
See also:
Memorable Manitobans: Frederick Philip Grove (1871-1948)
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Rapid City Mill Office (Rapid City, RM of Oakview)
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Abandoned Manitoba
“Education,” Manitoba Free Press, 17 March 1884, page 4.
Annual Reports of the Manitoba Department of Education, Manitoba Legislative Library.
“Grade XII instituted,” Rapid City Reporter, 30 August 1951, page 5.
“Teaching staff changes,” Rapid City Reporter, 3 July 1952, page 1.
“Rapid City school board requires two teachers,” Rapid City Reporter, 28 April 1966, page 1.
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.
Rapid City and District - Our Past for the Future, Rapid City Historical Book Society, 1978.
Manitoba School Records Collection, Rapid City School No. 124 Daily Registers, GR2088, Archives of Manitoba.
School division half-yearly attendance reports (E 0757), Archives of Manitoba.
Rapid City and District, Our Past for the Future, Part II, Rapid City Historical Book Society, 2002. [Manitoba Legislative Library]
We thank Rose Kuzina for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Nathan Kramer and Gordon Goldsborough
Page revised: 1 January 2023
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