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In May 1884, a public school opened in the Town Hall at the Old Deloraine Townsite, with Miss Addie Cline of Toronto serving as its first teacher, at a monthly salary of $35. Four years later, a dedicated school building was erected on the southwest corner of the southeast quarter of 32-2-22W, on land donated by farmer J. P. Morrison. Known originally as Deloraine School, it was renamed Hazeldean School in 1897 in commemoration of an area near Ottawa, Ontario from which Morrison and his wife had come. The school served as an educational centre for the district, and also hosted concerts, church services, dances, and youth group meetings.
A one-room school building was erected in 1914 on top of a small hill on the south half of 32-2-22 west of the Principal Meridian, in the Rural Municipality of Winchester (now the Municipality of Deloraine-Winchester). Through the north-facing windows of the brick structure, students had a commanding view of Whitewater Lake in the distance. The school was used continuously until consolidation in the 1960s caused its closure in June 1966, and remaining students were bussed to Deloraine Consolidated School No. 2448. For a few years, the building continued to serve as a community centre. As of 2012, the building still stood at its original site, abandoned and open to the elements. The building was demolished in April 2020 but a monument erected in 2019 commemorates it at the site. Bricks in the monument were obtained from the former schoolhouse and a hammerhead (later stolen) was inserted in a small recess on its front side.
Teachers through the years included the following: Miss Addie Cline, Mr. I. W. Daly, John A. Morrison, Ezra Moodie, Melissa Tweedie, Martha S. Leggett, A. M. Squair, Clara Potter, W. N. Greenway, Miss Dandy, Josie Bliss, Agnes Wilson, Gertrude Martin, Miss Richards, Eleanor McKay, Gertride Sweet, Ruby Winkler, Miss Finlay, Miss Kane, Miss Collie, Alma Mills, Miss Lalier, Miss McKinney, Andy Rankin, Miss Wallace, Miss Frith, Miss Fallis, Miss Forsyth, Phyllis Gervin, Lottie Kinney, Hazel Stockford, Mary Renwick, Olive Orth, Una Udall, Alice Graham, Dorothy Stewart, Nina Pearen, Eleanor Halpenny, Selina Harlton, Ida Fehr, Connie Poulson, Senta Ammeter, Thelma Chandler, Neva George, Marjorie Genung, Dorothy Chambers, Edna Speers, Elizabeth Fraser, Myrtle Bell, Paul Laval, Mary Snelgrove, Elaine Beamish, Arlene Johnston, Joanne Agnew, Margaret Philp, Louise Chaloner, and Eva Hathaway.
Among the noteworthy people who attended Hazeldean School were municipal official Roger Goethals and judge Ronald D. Bell.
Student attendance records, trustee meeting minutes and cash books for the school, from 1884 to 1966, are in the possession of Doug Morrison of Deloraine, a descendant of land donor and early school trustee J. P. Morrison.
The former Hazeldean School building (circa 1990)
Source: Historic Resources Branch, Public School Buildings Inventory, slide 1498.
The former Hazeldean School building (February 2012)
Source: Gordon Goldsborough
Interior of Hazeldean School (February 2012)
Source: Gordon Goldsborough
A oil-fueled, forced-air furnace and two toilets were in the dirt-floor basement of Hazeldean School (February 2012)
Source: Gordon Goldsborough
Hazeldean School commemorative monument with the concrete foundation of the former schoolhouse in the background (April 2020)
Source: Janice McClellandSite Coordinates (lat/long): N49.16213, W100.38801
denoted by symbol on the map above
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.
Deloraine Scans a Century: 1880-1980 by Deloraine History Book Committee, 1980, page 140.
We thank Doug Morrison, Elaine Morrison, and Janice McClelland for providing information used here.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 24 May 2020
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