The Graysfield School District was established formally in October 1913 and a school building was erected the next year, on two acres of land in the southwest corner of 27-15-3W, in the village of Lake Francis in the Rural Municipality of Woodlands. It was used as a community centre for dances, concerts and church services until 1925, when the Women’s Institute Hall was built. The school closed in April 1967 and the building was moved to Woodlands where it was used as a classroom. It was later incorporated into the Woodlands Museum. A plaque at its former site was erected in 2005.
Among the teachers of Graysfield School were Miss Rose Connelly (1914-1916), Miss Clara Rice (1916-1917), Miss Eva Sweet (1917-1918), Miss Evelyn Rowley (1919), Miss Mary Campbell (1920), Miss Thora Sigurdson (1920), Miss Helga Sigurdson (1921), Miss Evelyn Dow (1921), Miss Elsie Fetterley (1922), Miss Helen Dawson (1923), Miss Elsie Turner (1924-1925), Miss Nellie Robertson (1925-1926), Miss Julia Baldwin (1927), Miss E. Morgan (1927-1929), Miss Thelma Wallman (1929-1931), Miss Freda Miller (1931-1932), Miss Beatrice Frith (1932-1938), Miss Lillian Howe (1938-1940), Miss Gudberg Eggertson (1940), Louise Amelia Neilson (1941), Miss Elizabeth Lavender (1941-1942), Mrs. Esther Arbor (1942-1944), Mrs. Esther Arbor (1943-1947), Leila Roby (1943-1944), Miss Lillian Mazurkiewiez (1947-1948), Miss Evelyn Devlin (1948-1949), Miss Margaret Jean McIvor (1949-1950), Miss Mayme Cosens (1950-1951), Ivan T. Rainy (1951), Mrs. Mary Dufault (1952), Mrs. Louise Roberta Collier (1952-1955), Wilfred C. Hodkinson (1955-1956), David W. Bahrey (1956-1957), Miss Rosa Johnson (1957-1958), Mrs. Frank Golez (1958-1959), Mrs. Veronica Gaudry (1959-1964), Mrs. D. Fleury (1959-1964), Mrs. Olga Slotiuk (1964-1965), Miss Michalchuk (1965-1966), George Braun (1965-1966), Michael Aldcroft (1966), and Mrs. Jeanette Erickson (1966-1967).
Graysfield School (no date) by M. Hall-Jones
Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs,
GR8461, A0233, C131-3, page 20.
Graysfield School (June 1957)
Source: Judy Gleich
The former Graysfield School building at Woodlands Pioneer Museum (May 2009)
Source: Manny Jacob
The former Graysfield School building at Woodlands Pioneer Museum (April 2023)
Source: Rose Kuzina
Graysfield School commemorative plaque (2011)
Source: Peter McLure
Graysfield School commemorative plaque (November 2023)
Source: Rose KuzinaSite Coordinates (lat/long): N50.30458, W97.80600
denoted by symbol on the map above
See also:
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Woodlands Pioneer Museum (Woodlands, RM of Woodlands)
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.
MHM - Graysfield School No. 1708 - Lake Francis MB, Waymarking.
Manitoba School Records Collection, Graysfield School No. 1708 Daily Registers, GR2088, Archives of Manitoba.
Along the Mission Trail - Lake Francis, Bonnie Doon, Graysfield, Glennie by Lake Francis History Book Committee, 1988, pages 62-#.
We thank Judy Gleich and Manny Jacob for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Peter McLure, Nathan Kramer, Rose Kuzina, and Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 13 January 2024
Historic Sites of Manitoba
This is a collection of historic sites in Manitoba compiled by the Manitoba Historical Society. The information is offered for historical interest only.
Browse lists of:
Museums/Archives | Buildings | Monuments | Cemeteries | Locations | OtherInclusion in this collection does not confer special status or protection. Official heritage designation may only come from municipal, provincial, or federal governments. Some sites are on private property and permission to visit must be secured from the owner.
Site information is provided by the Manitoba Historical Society as a free public service only for non-commercial purposes.
Send corrections and additions to this page
to the MHS Webmaster at webmaster@mhs.mb.ca.Help us keep history alive!
