Historic Sites of Manitoba: Halbstadt School No. 886 (Municipality of Rhineland)

The Halbstadt School District was established in April 1896, named for the home village of the Molotchna Mennonite Colony in southern Ukraine. A one-room schoolhouse operated at SW10-1-1E in what is now the Municipality of Rhineland. After the community lost control to Trustee J. F. Greenway around 1918, over its failure to follow legal requirements for school operation, they sought and resumed local control in 1920. They built a new school in 1937 across the road at SE9-1-1E, opposite the Halbstadt Cemetery.

In 1960, efforts to consolidate the district with Houston School District and Strassberg School District failed to receive local support, but consolidation with Houston took place on 2 July 1964 under the name Halbstadt Consolidated School Disrtrict No. 214, thus preserving the Halbstadt name and the Houston district number. The school building was moved to the site of the Houston School. The yard with teacherage was sold and, as of 2014, the teacherage was occupied as a private residence. The district merged with Altona Consolidated School No. 333 in 1967. Halbstadt’s former school building was sold to a local farmer for use as a workshop at E8-1-1E.

The name sign from the second Halbstadt School building was later erected at the site in commemoration of it.

Among the teachers of Halbstadt School was Peter J. Peters.

The Halbstadt School building, as it appeared after remodelling in 1915 (no date) by G. G. Neufeld Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs, GR8461, A0233, C131-2, page 17. Halbstadt School (1930) Source: Dave Sawatzky (Altona and District Heritage Research Centre) The second Halbstadt School building (no date) by G. G. Neufeld Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs, GR8461, A0233, C131-2, page 17. The second Halbstadt School building (1937) Source: Dave Sawatzky (Altona and District Heritage Research Centre) Halbstadt School commemorative sign (October 2015) Source: Jake Rempel Halbstadt School commemorative sign (May 2023) Source: Gordon Goldsborough Site Coordinates (lat/long): N49.02159, W97.39238 denoted by symbol on the map above

See also:

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Halbstadt Monument (Municipality of Rhineland)

Sources:

Emerson East topographic map, 62H/3 West, Edition 2 ASE, Series A743 [UFS Reference Collection].

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.

The Rural Municipality of Rhineland, 1884-1984 by Gerhard J. Ens, 1984. [Manitoba Legislative Library, F5648.R45 Ens]

Halbstadt Heritage: 1879-2005 by the Halbstadt Heritage Book Committee, 2005. [Manitoba Legislative Library, F5648.R45 Hal]

This page was prepared by Al Schmidt (Altona and District Heritage Research Centre), Jake Rempel, and Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 29 May 2023

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