Historic Sites of Manitoba: Altamont School No. 115 (Altamont, Municipality of Lorne)

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

Formerly situated east of this site and known as Mussellboro School, the first two-room Altamont School was built in 1902, where Altamont Park is now (about N49.40040 W98.49284), in Altamont in what is now the Municipality of Lorne. In 1924, a two-room addition was made and, in 1958, upon consolidation with Deerwood School No. 926, Victory School No. 1143, and Sylvan School No. 1379, the Sylvan classroom was brought here to become a fifth classroom. It was later added to the United Church, which eventually became a library. The school building was torn down in 1961-1962 and the bell was salvaged for use on a monument commemorating the school and its teachers.

Principals

Period

Principal

1922-1923

S. Shannon

1923-1924

Walter Gard Jose (1878-1948)

1924-1925

Doris M. Head

1925-1927

John Blain Stewart (1882-?)

1927-1933

Clifford George Williamson (1904-2002)

1933-1936

Peter S. Buhr (?-?)

1936-1939

James Alexander “Jim” Fraser (1912-1988)

1939-1940

Oliver Clayton Bricker (1900-1992)

1940-1942

Roland Gustaf Quarnstrom (1914-1989)

1942-1944

Kenneth Donald Bruce (1892-1968)

1944-1948

George Oswald Hinds (1906-1969)

1948-1952

Arnold Marshall Leech (1911-1998)

1952-1956

Willard Ervin Rife (1890-1970)

1956-1957

William Bock

1957-1960

John Franklin Morrison (1910-1984)

1960-1969

?

1969-1980

Catherine Joyce Madill Orchard (1928-2021)

Teachers

Among the teachers who worked at Altamont School were John M. Sturk, Mary Armitage, and Dorothy Irene Madill Hudson.

Photos & Coordinates

Postcard view of Altamont School, situated at N49.40040 W98.49284

Postcard view of Altamont School, situated at N49.40040 W98.49284 (no date)
Source: Gordon Goldsborough, 2013-0080

The enlarged Altamont School building

The enlarged Altamont School building (after 1924) by G. H. Robertson
Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs,
GR8461, A0233, C131-1, page 37.

Altamont School commemorative monument

Altamont School commemorative monument (April 2011)
Source: Gordon Goldsborough

Altamont School commemorative monument

Altamont School commemorative monument (September 2023)
Source: Rose Kuzina

Site Coordinates (lat/long): N49.39774, W98.49631
denoted by symbol on the map above

Sources:

Annual Reports of the Manitoba Department of Education, Manitoba Legislative Library.

“Aerial view of Altamont, 17 May 1944,” Charles J. Gingras collection #159, 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 Study of Public School Buildings in Manitoba by David Butterfield, Historic Resources Branch, Manitoba Department of Culture, Heritage and Tourism, 1994, 230 pages.

We thank Nathan Kramer and Rose Kuzina for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 12 March 2024

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