Historic Sites of Manitoba: Crystal City School No. 107 (Crystal City, Municipality of Louise)

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

The Crystal City School District was established formally in November 1880, in Crystal City, in what is now the Municipality of Louise. A two-storey brick school building was erected in 1898 on a design by Brandon architect Walter Henderson Shillinglaw. In 1917, it was supplemented by a one-storey brick structure nearby. The older building was later demolished but the other one still stands and, as of 2013, is still being used for storage. In April 1958, it became Crystal City Consolidated School.

Principals

Period	Principal
?	David James Wright (1861-1925)
1896-1899	Theophilus Grant Finn (1865-1934)
1899-1900	W. T. D. Lathwell
1900-1902	W. J. Russell
1902-1903	William Joseph Parr (1867-1943)
1903-1906	Harry Harvey Greenway (1879-1906)
1906-1907	Francis Henry “Frank” Belton (1869-1936)
1907-1908	William Randolph Cottingham (1884-1948)
1908-1910	W. J. Russell
1910-1912	?
1912-1913	Earl Augustus Ross (1890-?)
1913-1916	James Tod (1869-1930)
1916-1920	Mary M. Dawson
1920-1928	Edgar Burgess
1928-1938	James Ogel Beckstead (1883-1985)
1938-1939	?
1939-1946	John Clayton Stewart (1906-1990)
1946-1953	Robert Stanley “Stan” McGill (1909-1994)
1953-1954	F. Kanuka
1954-1955	Doris Irene Penstock Greenshields
1955-1956	C. Bergen
1956-1957	M. Macdonald
1957-1959	George Jackson Strang (1934-2000)
1959-1961	John William Milner
1961-1964	R. Gopaul
1964-1971	Leo J. McGinn (1933-2014)

Teachers

Among the teachers who worked at Crystal City School was Allin J. Pybus.

Photos & Coordinates

Postcard view of the Crystal City School (no date) Source: Gordon Goldsborough, 2014-0273 Crystal City Schools (no date) by W. J. Parr Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs, GR8461, A0233, C131-1, page 35. The former Crystal City School building (circa 1990) Source: Historic Resources Branch, Public School Buildings Inventory, slide 614. The former Crystal City School building (May 2013) Source: Gordon Goldsborough The former Crystal City School building (September 2021) Source: Rose Kuzina Site Coordinates (lat/long): N49.14383, W98.94892 denoted by symbol on the map above

See also:

Memorable Manitobans: Walter Henderson Shillinglaw (1864-1957)

Sources:

“The Indian famine fund,” Winnipeg Tribune, 4 March 1897, page 4.

“Crystal City, Man,” Western Canada Fire Underwriters’ Association map, 26 June 1911, 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: 9 October 2021

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