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In 1883, the trustees of Portage la Prairie School District No. 10 arranged for the construction of Central School at a cost of $40,000. This ten-classroom structure provided instruction until early 1887 when it was forced to close by a declaration of bankrupty by the Town of Portage la Prairie. The school reopened in 1888. Responsibility for teaching older children transferred to the Portage Collegiate Institute when it opened in 1905. A Normal School operated within the Central School for some years, but it never had a separate building. The Central School building had become structually unsound by 1948 and was demolished between May and June 1949.
The former Central School was replaced at the same site by Prince Charles School, named for the eldest child of Queen Elizabeth II. The building was constructed at a cost of around $250,000 and opened officially by Education Minister W. C. Miller, at which he presented the key the school to School Board Chairman Roy McKay. Also present were Premier D. L. Campbell, Portage MLA and Labour Minister C. E. Greenlay, and Portage Alderman R. E. Burk on behalf of Mayor H. L. Henderson. The 600-student capacity was spread across 16 rooms in grades 1 to 8. The main floor featured a dental clinic and nursing station and the second floor had a teachers’ rest area and projection room for the 700-seat auditorium. The Portage la Prairie School Division facility was the first in the province to host a radio broadcast workshop, opened on 21 September 1951 in partnership with School Inspector E. F. Simms and the Department of Education. The launch was attended by Winnipeg Supervisor of School Broadcasts Gladys McCanse and Brandon Schools Supervisor and broadcast director Elizabeth McLeish.
For the start of the 1952-1953 school year, grade eight students were transferred to the Portage Collegiate Institute (PCI). During the aftermath of a 1954 fire at PCI, some students attended staggered classes in the Prince Charles School auditorium.
On 14 April 1968, the school was almost completely destroyed by fire, save for a recent two-storey annex which suffered heavy smoke and water damage. It took five pumper trucks, four from the Portage la Prairie Fire Department and one from the nearby Air Force Base, to extinguish the blaze. Early estimates of the damage were as high as $1 million dollars. Students in grades 1 to 3 were housed in local church halls while those in grades 4 to 8 held staggered classes in the PCI gymnasium. The school was rebuilt in 1969 on the then-popular open-area concept designed by the Winnipeg architectural firm of Smith Carter Searle and Associates.
The Prince Charles School was later incorporated into the Portage Collegiate Institute, now known as the Prince Charles Building.
Period
Principal
1887
Miss Horsberg
1888
Miss N. Gunne
1888-1890
Hugh Stewart MacLean [McLean] (1858-1924)
1890-?
Professor Caldwell
1891-1900
?
c1901-?
Andrew Pritchard MacKinnon (1880-1945)
Period
Principal
1949-1957
William Charles “Bill” Warren (1917-1958)
1957-1968
?
1968-1971
William Raymond “Ray” Hooper (1920-2005)
1971-?
David Gair
School Year
Teachers
1886
Mr. McCallum (Fall), Mr. McInnis (Fall), Miss Morrison (Fall), Miss Gunne (Fall)
1887
Annette L. Gunne (Spring-Fall), Miss McKenzie (Spring-Fall), Miss Morrison (Spring)
1888
Mr. H. T. McCarthy (Fall), Miss Gunne (Fall), Miss Wickweare (Fall), Miss Scott (Fall), Miss A. Gunne (Fall)
School Year
Teachers
1950-1951
Miss Barbara Allan (grade 6), Miss Jean Burnett (grade 2), Mrs. Jean Chapple (grade 5), Miss Margaret Fairhall (grade 8), Miss Jean Fulford, Miss Girnith George (art), Miss Violet Graham, Miss Marjorie Hall (grade 3), Mr. W. R. Hooper (physical education), Miss Myrtle McArthur (grade 3), Mrs. Jessie Rea (grade 5), Mrs. Winifred Reid (grade 1), Miss Evelyn Robertson (grade 2), Miss Helen Sklepowich (grade 4), Mr. R. H. Stevens (grade 7 science), Miss Esme White (grade 8), Miss Annie Wilman (grade 1)
1951-1952
Mrs. Barbara Allan, Mrs. Vera Arrell, Mrs. Myrtle Brill, Mrs. Jean Chapple, Frank Unrau Dyck, Miss Margaret Fairhall, Miss Violet Graham, Miss Marjorie Hall, Mr. W. R. Hooper, Miss Gwen Johnston, Miss Jessie Rae, Miss Evelyn Robertson, Boris Schewchuk, Miss Lulu Wall, Miss Esme White, Miss Annie Wilman
Postcard view of the Portage Central School with the former Lansdowne College building in the background (circa 1907)
Source: Gordon Goldsborough, 2011-0028
Postcard view of the Portage Central School (circa 1904)
Source: Andrew Cunningham
Portage Central School (no date) by A. B. Fallis
Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs,
GR8461, A0233, C131-1, page 5.Site Coordinates (lat/long): N49.97213, W98.29562
denoted by symbol on the map above
See also:
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Victoria-Albert School (Ellen Street, Winnipeg)
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Central Normal School (442 William Avenue, Winnipeg)
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Central School No. 944 (1899-1954)
Lansdowne College - A Product of the Depression of 1885 by Norman J. Williamson
Manitoba Pageant, Volume 21, Number 4, Summer 1976Historic Sites of Manitoba: Brandon Normal School / Model Room School / Agricultural Extension Centre (1129 Queens Street, Brandon)
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Dauphin Normal School / Whitmore School (First Street SW, Dauphin)
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Manitou Normal School (Main Street, Manitou, Municipality of Pembina)
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Central School / Portage Normal School / Prince Charles School (Third Street Southwest, Portage la Prairie)
Historic Sites of Manitoba: St. Boniface Normal School (210 rue Masson, Winnipeg)
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Manitoba School for the Deaf (500 Shaftesbury, Winnipeg)
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Mulvey School (750 Wolseley Avenue, Winnipeg)
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Central School No. 944 (1899-1954)
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Old Central School (Tenth Street, Brandon)
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Victoria School (32 Fifth Street SE, Portage la Prairie)
Historic Sites of Manitoba: West Ward School (Portage la Prairie)
Historic Sites of Manitoba: North Ward School (535 Third Street NW, Portage la Prairie)
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Victoria School (32 Fifth Street SE, Portage la Prairie)
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Manitoba School for the Deaf / Manitoba Vocational Centre / Prince Charles School / Prince Charles Education Resource Centre (1075 Wellington Avenue, Winnipeg)
Manitoba Business: Smith Carter and Katelnikoff / Smith Carter Architects and Engineers / Architecture49
“Our schools,” Weekly Review [Portage la Prairie], 28 January 1887, page 4.
“The following is the report of the monthly examination ...,” Weekly Review [Portage la Prairie], 2 December 1887, page 8.
“Local news [A review representative ...],” Weekly Review [Portage la Prairie], 10 February 1888, page 8.
“The Portage schools,” Manitoba Daily Free Press, 7 August 1888, page 2.
“Portage la Prairie,” Manitoba Daily Free Press, 10 November 1888, page 2.
“From the Saturday night [Professor Caldwell has taken ...],” Weekly Review [Portage la Prairie], 14 May 1890, page 3.
“Portage school by-law passes Tuesday with majority of 56,” Portage la Prairie Leader, 24 March 1949, page 1.
“Building sold for $550 if site cleared: Poplar Point contractor and St. Ambroise man in venture,” Portage la Prairie Leader, 5 May 1949, page 1.
“New School in Portage to open Sept. 4,” Winnipeg Free Press, 12 August 1950, page 28.
“Modern school for 600 students opens at Portage,” Winnipeg Free Press, 5 September 1950, page 4.
“Prince Charles teaching staff rated among best in Manitoba,” Portage Leader, 7 September 1950, pages 7-8.
“Portage lists teaching staff as school opens,” Winnipeg Free Press, 5 September 1951, page 34.
“Portage School to have first radio workshop,” Winnipeg Free Press, 12 September 1951, page 10.
“Portage faces pupil surplus, desk shortage,” Winnipeg Free Press, 16 June 1952, page 5.
“Full schools may force Portage vote,” Winnipeg Free Press, 21 September 1953, page 2.
“Portage Fire Department under study,” Winnipeg Free Press, 1 June 1954, page 10.
“Teacher wanted [Principal, Prince Charles School], Winnipeg Free Press, 18 May 1957, page 18.
“No leads in Portage School fire,” Winnipeg Free Press, 18 May 1968, page 3.
“Stubborn blade lights night,” Winnipeg Free Press, 25 April 1968, pages 1 and 5.
“Tender notice,” Winnipeg Free Press, 20 December 1968, page 36.
“Vice-Principal required,” Winnipeg Free Press, 10 May 1969, page 44.
A History of Portage la Prairie and Surrounding District by Anne M. Collier, 1970, pages 146-147.
“Six Portage SD teachers resign,” Winnipeg Free Press, 15 March 1971, page 48.
“Gair named Portage school Principal,” Winnipeg Free Press, 1 June 1971, page 23.
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.
We thank Les Green, James Kostuchuk, and George Stewart for providing information used here.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough and Nathan Kramer.
Page revised: 24 December 2023
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