The Bell River School District was organized formally in August 1926 and, the following year, a one-room schoolhouse was built at NW6-42-25W in what would later become the Rural Municipality of Mountain. At some point, the original building was turned into a granary and a new structure replaced it. The school closed permanently in April 1967 and the district became part of the Swan Valley School Division. The former school was renovated into a private residence.
Among the teachers of Bell River School were Miss Thompson (1926), Ruby Cooper, Jack McDonald, Joe Sudzol, Ernie Chesney, Peter Ukrainec, Jean Abambroff, Edith Henderson, Ruby Kolowa, Mrs. MacDonald, Mrs. Langlois, and Madeleine Beaudry (1967).
Bell River School (no date) by J. S. Peach
Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs,
GR8461, A0233, C131-3, page 105.Site Coordinates (lat/long): N52.59443, W101.06187
denoted by symbol on the map above
School District Formation Files [Bell River School District No. 2157], GR1688, E0027, 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.
Boots, Buggies & Buses: Swan Valley Schools in Quest of Education, Swan Valley School Division No. 35, circa 1998.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 25 April 2021
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