The Durston School District was organized formally in March 1921 and a one-room wood frame school building was erected the following year, on land at 11-24-19W in the Rural Municipality of Dauphin donated by local farmers William H. Durston (for whom the school was named) and Hugh McMillan. The school closed in June 1960 and district was dissolved later that year. The remaining students were bused to schools in Dauphin. The building sat vacant at the site until the 1980s when it was destroyed by fire. A fieldstone monument, unveiled on 8 July 1998, commemorates it. The former school barn stands at the site.
Teachers who worked at Durston School included Ruby W. Wilmoth (1922-1923), Susie Cox (1923-1924), Ruth Broder (1924-1925), Gladys McRoberts (1938), Miss Phyllis Heselwood (1954-1956), George Gibson (1956-1957), Douglas McKinnon (1957-1958), and Mrs. Viola Gemmill (1958-1960). A complete list of teachers and students is contained in documents inside the monument.
Durston School (no date) by H. J. Everall
Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs,
GR8461, A0233, C131-3, page 87.
Durston School commemorative monument (July 2013)
Source: Alan Mason
The former Durston School barn (July 2013)
Source: Alan MasonSite Coordinates (lat/long): N51.05200, W100.02804
denoted by symbol on the map above
See also:
Memorable Manitobans: William Henry “Bill” Durston (1871-1954)
“The local round,” Dauphin Herald, 20 October 1938, page 9.
“Teaching staffs named for “A” and “B” groups,” Dauphin Herald and Press, 9 September 1954, page 1.
“Record-breaking enrollments expected here in collegiate, elementary schools,” Dauphin Herald and Press, 1 September 1955, page 1.
“All-time high enrollments expected for town schools,” Dauphin Herald and Press, 30 August 1956, page 1.
“Town schools open today, high enrollments expected,” Dauphin Herald and Press, 29 August 1957, page 1.
“Total of 110 teachers assigned to schools in Dauphin-Ochre area,” Dauphin Herald and Press, 4 September 1958, page 1.
“Teaching staffs assigned to rural, village schools,” Dauphin Herald and Press, 3 September 1959, page 1.
“26 rural schools start fall term classes Tuesday,” Dauphin Herald and Press, 31 August 1960, page 1, 4.
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.
This page was prepared by Alan Mason and Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 24 January 2021
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