The Aesop School District was established in July 1925 and a one-room schoolhouse operated at Rosetown (SE23-1-3W) in the Rural Municipality of Rhineland. In March 1926, a vote of local ratepayers unanimously approved a $3,000 debenture to finance both the purchase of property for a school site, construction of a schoolhouse, and paying off debts the district had incurred since its founding. In 1958, the district was dissolved and its area became part of the Kronsthal Consolidated School District. The former school building was moved to Gretna where it was used for a time as a classroom at the Mennonite Collegiate Institute. It was later moved to Altona where it is the maintenance shed in the local park. The former teacherage was renovated into a private residence at the original site.
Among the teachers who worked at Aesop School were Dietrich Penner (Fall 1925 - Spring 1926), John David Adrian (Fall 1926 - Spring 1928, Spring 1929 - Spring 1931), Eva Janzen (Fall 1928), Irbrand John Krieger (Fall 1931 - Spring 1936), Isaac F. Wiens (Fall 1936 - Spring 1938), Frank F. Enns (Fall 1938 - Spring 1941), Peter Bernhard Krahn (Fall 1941 - Spring 1942), Lily Schaefer (Fall 1942 - Spring 1945), Jacob A. Wiebe (Fall 1945 - Spring 1946), Frank Isaak (Fall 1946 - Spring 1947), John K. Dyck (Fall 1947 - Spring 1948), Peter Jacob Heinrichs (Fall 1948 - Spring 1950), David Winter (Fall 1950 - Spring 1952), Helen Petkau (Fall 1952 - Spring 1953), Harvey Barkman (Fall 1953 - Spring 1954), John Plett “Johnny” Kornelson (Fall 1954 - Spring 1956), and Jacob Friesen (Fall 1956 - Spring 1958).
Aesop School (no date) by G. G. Neufeld
Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs,
GR8461, A0233, C131-3, page 100.
The former Aesop School teacherage (May 2014)
Source: Frank KehlerSite Coordinates (lat/long): N49.04533, W97.75243
denoted by symbol on the map above
Altona West topographic map, 62H/4 West, Edition 1, Series A743 [UFS Reference Collection].
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.
Corporate Security registered documents (ATG 0089), #45 School District of Aesop, GR12576, Archives of Manitoba.
School division half-yearly attendance reports (E 0757), Archives of Manitoba.
Manitoba School Records Collection, Aesop School District No. 2132 - Daily Registers, GR2656, Archives of Manitoba.
We thank Frank Kehler for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough and Nathan Kramer.
Page revised: 1 November 2025
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