Historic Sites of Manitoba: Dominion City School No. 45 (Dominion City, Municipality of Emerson-Franklin)

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

The Dominion City School District was established formally in March 1877 and a school building operated in Dominion City in what is now the Municipality of Emerson-Franklin. In 1901, a two-storey, four-classroom wood frame schoolhouse was built at the site. It became part of the Dominion City Consolidated School No. 45 in 1913, consolidating with Whitby School No. 1421, Erin School No. 385, and part of Bow Park School No. 166.

By 1914, the school building was considered unsafe so, two years later, a new two-storey, six-classroom brick structure was erected at a cost of $18,456 and the old building was sold. As student enrollment increased through the years, space was added, including a sixth classroom in 1946 and a two-room annex in 1948. Electrical service was added in 1935.

A new primary school, now part of the local arena, was designed by the Winnipeg architectural firm of Smith Carter and Katelnikoff and built in 1956. The annex was removed. The old brick building closed in December 1965 and was later demolished.

Principals

Period

Principal

?-?

Herbert Walter Graham (1878-1938)

1898-1899

James Houston

1899-1901

David Iverach (1871-1946)

1901-1902

J. A. Findlay

1902-1903

Daniel Baldwin (1872-1949)

1903-1904

Angus McNevin (1862-1923)

1904-1906

William Robertson Beveridge (1873-1949)

1906-1907

J. M. Clindinin

1907-1909

Lena A. Waddell

1909-1910

Robert William Dunlop (1876-?)

1910-1912

?

1912-1913

Henry Johnston “Harry” Everall (1877-1933)

1913-1914

Charles Linwood “Charlie” Miller (1891-1958)

1914-1917

William George Edwin Pulleyblank (1890-1955)

1917-1918

James Corrigill (1857-1922)

1918-1919

Kenneth Donald Bruce (1892-1968)

1919-1920

George William Holmes

1920-1922

Clarence Lorne Kerr (1897-1973)

1922-1924

John Elwin Laird (1876-1950)

1924-1925

James Woodside (c1892-?)

1925-1927

Axel Vopnfjord (1902-1993)

1927-1930

John Dawson Evelyn (1862-1942)

1930-1931

Mary Ethel Simms (c1895-1947)

1931-1933

Amy Smith

1933-1934

Louis Erwin “Lewis” Gendron (1896-1973)

1934-1936

William Skidmore (c1885-?)

1936-1937

George Walton F. Brisbin (1906-1990)

1937-1939

William Moore (1914-1983)

1939-1941

Glenn Homer Turner (1912-1987)

1941-1943

William Charles “Charlie” Rhind (1904-1982)

1943-1945

Joseph A. McCracken (1911-1991)

1945-1946

James Andrew McKaughan (1877-1968)

1946-1951

Harry Sharpe (c1905-1958)

1951-1952

Vivian Clarkson “Clark” Hardy (1897-1982)

1952-1956

Myrtle Christina Evans Witherspoon (1906-1998)

1956-1957

Florence Grace Chappell (c1912-1967)

1957-1960

J. A. Dyck

1960-1961

Henry Martens

1961-1966

Gabriel J. Girard (1935-2006)

?

Douglas Albert Keith “Doug” Gruenke (1942-1977)

Teachers

Among the teachers who worked at Dominion City School were Edgar Burgess (1892-1893), David Baldwin (1890s), William John Bates (c1895-1901), and Celine Thuot.

Photos & Coordinates

The original Dominion City School building

The original Dominion City School building (circa 1917)
Source: Education Department Report, 1917, Manitoba Legislative Library.

The new Dominion City School building, shortly after construction in 1916

The new Dominion City School building, shortly after construction in 1916 (circa 1917)
Source: Education Department Report, 1917, Manitoba Legislative Library.

Dominion City School

Dominion City School (no date) by A. A. Herriot
Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs,
GR8461, A0233, C131-1, page 15.

Site Coordinates (lat/long): N49.14172, W97.16013
denoted by symbol on the map above

See also:

Manitoba Business: Smith Carter and Katelnikoff / Smith Carter Architects and Engineers / Architecture49

Sources:

“School tender notice [Dominion City School],” Winnipeg Free Press, 7 March 1956, page 24.

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.

R.M. of Franklin Turns a Century, 1883-1983 by The RM of Franklin Book Committee, May 1983, pages 88-90.

We thank Nathan Kramer for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 22 December 2022

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