Historic Sites of Manitoba: Fox School / Edwin School No. 735 (RM of Portage la Prairie)

Known originally as Fox School District when it was established formally in February 1893, a school building made of logs was erected in 1895 on the southeast corner of the southwest quarter of 16-11-8 west of the Principal Meridian in the Rural Municipality of Portage la Prairie. In 1904, the original building was replaced by a new brick structure measuring 26 feet by 40 feet and costing $3,000. It was renamed Edwin in 1905 for the nearby community. By 1921, enrollment had increased sufficiently that a second classroom was added to it.

The brick school building was demolished in 1960 and the present structure replaced it. In May 1966, local ratepayers voted to have the district become part of the Prairie Central Consolidated School No. 2456 in a school to be built on the western outskirts of Portage la Prairie. By 1968, students in grades 7 and 8 were bused to Portage and the school closed in 1969. The building is now used as a community centre.

Among the teachers who worked at Edwin School were Miss Beddome, Miss O’Leary, Miss Fox, Miss Wallace, Miss Caye Scott, Miss Rae Scott, Joe Scott, Rudy Dankesreiter, Edna Nicoll, Margaret Nicoll, Mary Chepil Onysko, Jessie Pallister Crosby, Doris Boak Smith, Beryl McConochie Johnston, Verna Patterson Howarth, Della McIntosh Evans, John Bowland, Mrs. Roberta Chepil, and Anne Poyser Pallister (1953-1954).

The former Edwin School building, demolished in 1960 (no date) by A. B. Fallis Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs, GR8461, A0233, C131-1, page 117. The former Edwin School building, erected in 1960, later a community centre (circa 1990) Source: Historic Resources Branch, Public School Buildings Inventory, slide 1071. The former Edwin School building (September 2012) Source: Gordon Goldsborough Site Coordinates (lat/long): N49.91620, W98.50356 denoted by symbol on the map above

See also:

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Fox School No. 1928 (Municipality of Grahamdale)

Sources:

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.

Rural Schools of Portage la Prairie School Division #24 by Muriel Wright, 1996.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 11 January 2020

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