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This four-storey brick veneer building, the oldest rural convent in Manitoba, is a provincially designated historic site in St. Jean Baptiste in the Rural Municipality of Montcalm. It was built between 1897 and 1898 on a design by architect Joseph-Azarie Senecal. A north wing was added in 1910 by the partnership of Senecal and J. A. Hudon. It served as a convent, girls’ school, and boarding facility.
The convent building hosted the St. Jean Baptiste Centre School No. 941 from its establishment in May 1897. Through the years, as demand for space grew, the school complex expanded to the south, with a major addition constructed in 1953. The school became the St. Jean Baptiste Consolidated School District No. 2362 in 1958.
The original building was sold to private ownership in 1994 and plans at that time called for it to become an antique and gift shop, museum, or tearoom. It was renovated into nine residential apartments.
In 2023, a new owner attempted to create nine more apartments in the building but is alleged to have not obtained building permits for the electrical and plumbing work. The municipal government was alerted to deficiencies by a tenant and, after the issues were not resolved, all tenants were evicted and the power was disconnnected in May 2023.
Period
Principal
1912-1913
Sister Elisa Marion
1913-1917
Sister Bertha Lamarre
1917-1918
Flore-Alice Nadeau
1918-1919
Brother E. Berger
1919-1920
Sister Bertha Lamarre
1920-1921
Flore-Alice Nadeau
1921-1933
Beatrice Bedard [Sister Elizabeth St. Joseph] (c1893-1983)
1933-1937
Sister M. A. Bellemare
1937-1942
Sister Elodie Daneault
1942-1943
Sister Otilia Nolin
1943-1947
Sister Delphine Joubert
1947-1948
Sister Marie Agnes de Jesus
1948-1949
Albina Marie Bleau (1897-1982)
1949-1951
Sister Luce Marie
1951-1955
Sister Alice Parent
1955-1956
Sister Luce-Marie
1956-1957
Sister Alice Parent
1957-1959
Sister Marie Louise Gabrielle
1959-1961
Sister Elizabeth
1961-1963
Beatrice Bedard [Sister Elizabeth St. Joseph] (c1893-1983)
1963-1969
Agathe Comeault [Sister Edmond de l’Eucharistie] (1914-2001)
1969-1973
R. Perron
No information.
St. Jean Baptiste Centre School (no date) by A. A. Herriot
Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs,
GR8461, A0233, C131-2, page 126.
St. Jean Baptiste Centre Boys’ School (no date) by A. A. Herriot
Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs,
GR8461, A0233, C131-2, page 126.
Convent of the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary (1964)
Source: Archives of Manitoba, Architectural Survey of Rural Manitoba, St. Jean Baptiste.
Convent of the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary (August 2014)
Source: Gordon Goldsborough
Aerial view of the Convent of the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary (November 2021)
Source: George Penner
Convent of the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary (August 2023)
Source: Glen Toews
Convent of the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary (August 2023)
Source: Glen Toews
Convent of the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary (August 2023)
Source: Glen ToewsSite Coordinates (lat/long): N49.26476, W97.34257
denoted by symbol on the map above
See also:
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Convent of the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary / Saint-Pierre-Jolys Museum (432 Joubert Street, St-Pierre-Jolys)
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Provincially Designated Historic Sites
Annual Reports of the Manitoba Department of Education, Manitoba Legislative Library.
Morris West topographic map, 62H/6 West, Edition 2 ASE, 1958, Series A743 [UFS Reference Collection].
Convent of the Sisters of The Holy Names of Jesus and Mary, 144 Caron Street, St. Jean Baptiste, Manitoba Historic Resources Branch.
“Revered real estate: Province's oldest Roman Catholic convent hits the market,” Winnipeg Free Press, 18 October 2021.
“Tenants in rural Manitoba apartment told to move out in one week,” CTV News, 29 April 2023.
We thank Glen Toews and George Penner for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 15 April 2024
Historic Sites of Manitoba
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