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Teachers (Houston School) | Principals (Houston School District) | Teachers (North School & South School) | District Principals (Halbstadt Consolidated School) | District Teachers (Halbstadt Consolidated School) | Photos & Coordinates | Sources
The Houston School District was established in November 1884 and classroom operation commenced in Fall 1885. A one-room schoolhouse operated at SW26-1-1E in the Rural Municipality of Rhineland and was later moved to the northwest corner of the section. Originally populated by the children of Anglo-Saxon settlers, over the next few years, composition of the school population changed as Mennonite immigrants became the majority in the district. Local control of the district was lost to provincial Trustee John Franklin Greenway over failure to comply with Manitoba’s education laws of 1916, but regained by late 1921. In June 1921, the district issued a $4,500 debenture to finance the construction of a new schoolhouse. In 1938, the district issued a $1,200 debenture for a new teacherage and to undertake repairs to the stable.
After the district had, by mutual agreement, added 13 quarters sections of land from the St. Joseph School District and Marais School District in 1941, overcrowding led to construction of a second school building at 34-1-1E in 1942. The project was funded via a $2,500 debenture, for the purchase of a second school site along with build and equip the second school. To distinguish the schools from each other, the original became known as Houston No. l (or Houston South) and the new one as Houston No. 2 (or Houston North). In 1961 the district began a semi-grading system, with all students in grades 1 to 4 going to Houston South and all students in grades 5 to 8 going to Houston North.
In 1964, the district was consolidated with the Halbstadt School District to form the Halbstadt Consolidated School District No. 214. The Halbstadt School building and Houston North school building were moved to the Houston South site. On 1 September 1967, the district amalgamated with the Altona Consolidated School No. 333. The Houston North site with teacherage were sold and, as of 2014, the teacherage is used as a private residence. The Houston South schoolhouse was dismantled. The former Houston North schoolhouse was sold and moved away for residential use, and the Halbstadt schoolhouse were sold and moved off site to become a farmer’s workshop. The yard was sold and merged with some other land to become a farm pasture.
Among the early teachers who worked at Houston School were A. A. Ogilvie (Fall 1885), W. R. Taylor [Tayler?] (Spring-Fall 1886), Maggie Fraser (Spring 1887 - Fall 1889), Ambrose William Stock (Spring-Fall 1890, of Stock House), S. H. Beattie (Spring 1891), Fenton J. Hartley (Fall 1891 - Spring 1892), I. J? Barron (Fall 1892), Robert Herbert (Spring-Fall 1893), D. P. Clark (Spring 1894), Eames Brised? (Fall 1894 - Spring 1895), Robert M. Robson (Fall 1895 - Spring 1897), Bella Robson (Fall 1897 - pt Spring 1900), Peter Iverach (pt Spring 1900), L. Muriel Macdonald (Fall 1900 - Fall 1901), records not availablle (Spring 1902 - Fall 1904), Peter Toews (Spring 1905), B. J. Funk (Fall 1905 - Spring 1906), Agatha Wiebe (Fall 1906 - Spring 1907), operating as a private school; no public grant to pay for teacher (Fall 1907 - Fall 1911), Edward “Ed” Klein (Spring 1912 - Spring 1915), school closed; diphtheria outbreak (1-10 February 1915), John I. Dyck (Fall 1915 - Spring 1916), operating as a private school; no public grant to pay for teacher (Fall 1916 - pt Spring 1919), J. G. Fletcher (c. May-June 1919), H. N. Baxter (Fall 1919 - Spring 1920), William Lineham Logan (Fall 1920), Simon H. R. Sobering (Fall 1921 - Spring 1923), George Melvin Newfield (Fall 1923 - Spring 1924), Isaac A. Enns (Fall 1924 - Spring 1926, Fall 1927 - Spring 1932, Fall 1933 - Spring 1935, and night school in 1931-1932 & 1934-1935), Jacob Abraham Dyck (Fall 1926 - Spring 1927), Henry Howard Goertzen (Fall 1932 - Spring 1933), Gerhard Labun (Fall 1935 - Spring 1937), John H. Bock (Fall 1937 - Spring 1941), and Peter Jacob Dyck (grades 1-8, Fall 1941 - Spring 1942).
Period
District Principal
1942-1959
?
1959-1963
David F. Wiebe
1963-1964
Bernhard Alfred “Ben” Klassen (1931-2021)
Period
Teachers
1942-1943
Peter Jacob Dyck (grades 1-10, at South School), Helen K. Schellenberg (grades 1-6, at North School)
1943-1944
Anne Klassen (grades 1-7, at North School), Cornelia Neufeld (grades 1-7, January-June, at South School), Mary K. Schellenberg (grades 1-7, September-December, at South School)
1944-1945
Cornelia Neufeld (grades 1-7, at South School), Elfrieda Wall (grades 1-6, at North School)
1945-1946
Olga Dalke (grades 1-7, at North School), John H. Bock (grades 1-8, at South School)
1946-1947
John H. Bock (grades 1-10, at South School), Hilda Wall (grades 1-5, at North School)
1947-1948
John H. Bock (grades 1-10, at South School), Helen Penner (grades 1-7, at North School)
1948-1949
John H. Bock (grades 1-9, at South School), William Bock (grades 1-7, at North School)
1949-1950
Helen Penner (grades 1-8, at North School), Bernhard Bernhard Boldt (grades 1-10, at South School)
1950-1951
Eleonore G. Neufelt (grades 1-7, at North School), Gerhard P. Neufeld (grades 1-7, at South School)
1951-1952
Eleonore G. Neufelt (grades 1-8, at North School), Gerhard P. Neufeld (grades 1-6, at South School)
1952-1953
Eleonore G. Neufelt (grades 1-9, at North School), Gerhard P. Neufeld (grades 1-7, at South School)
1953-1954
Alexander Peter Dirks (grades 1-8, at South School), Bernard Wiebe (grades 1-8, at North School)
1954-1955
Elmer Krushel (grades 1-6, at North School), Henry Krushel (grades 1-9, at South School)
1955-1956
Henry Krushel (grades 1-10, at South School), Lawrence Toews (grades 1-7, at North School)
1956-1957
Henry Krushel (grades 1-9, at South School), Lawrence Toews (grades 1-8, at North School)
1957-1958
Henry Krushel (grades 1-10, at South School), Harry Topnik (grades 1-10, at North School)
1958-1959
Henry Krushel (grades 1-7, at South School), Harry Topnik (grades 1-10, at North School)
1959-1960
Harry Topnik (grades 1-8, at North School), David F. Wiebe (grades 1-8, at South School)
1960-1961
Bernhard Alfred “Ben” Klassen (grades 1-9, at North School), David F. Wiebe (grades 1-8, at South School)
1961-1962
Bernhard Alfred “Ben” Klassen (grades 5-10, at North School), David F. Wiebe (grades 1-4, at South School)
1962-1963
Bernhard Alfred “Ben” Klassen (grades 5-10, at North School), David F. Wiebe (grades 1-4, at South School)
1963-1964
Anne Friesen (grades 1-4, at South School), Bernhard Alfred “Ben” Klassen (grades 5-9, at North School)
Period
Principal
1964-1967
Dennis Gordon Siemens
Period
Teachers
1964-1965
Anna Frisen (grades 1-3), Bernhard Alfred “Ben” Klassen (grades 7-8), Dennis Gordon Siemens (grades 4-6)
1965-1966
Eva Hilda Epp (grades 1-3), Mary Ann Friesen (grades 4-6), Dennis Gordon Siemens (grades 7-8)
1966-1967
Mary Ann Friesen (grades 4-6), Agnes Hildebrand (grades 1-3), Dennis Gordon Siemens (grades 7-8)
Houston South School (no date) by G. G. Neufeld
Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs,
GR8461, A0233, C131-1, page 75.Site Coordinates (lat/long): N49.06151, W97.36913
denoted by symbol on the map above
See also:
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Houston North School No. 214 (Municipality of Rhineland)
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Halbstadt School No. 886 (Municipality of Rhineland)
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Halbstadt Monument (Municipality of Rhineland)
Emerson East topographic map, 62H/3 West, Edition 2 ASE, Series A743 [UFS Reference Collection].
Board of Education registers (A 0050), GR7643, Archives of Manitoba.
Summative half-yearly returns for school districts (A 0051), GR0571, Archives of Manitoba.
Corporate Security registered documents (ATG 0089), #10 School District of Houston, GR12576, Archives of Manitoba.
School division half-yearly attendance reports (E 0757), Archives of Manitoba.
Orders-In-Council (EC 0003B), Order-in-Council #30777, GR1530, Archives of Manitoba.
Municipal borrowing files (MA 0039), Houston School District No. 214, GR1799, Archives of Manitoba.
Manitoba School Records Collection, Houston School District No. 214 - Daily Registers, GR2656, Archives of Manitoba.
Manitoba School Records Collection, Halbstadt Consolidated School District No. 214 - Daily Registers, GR2656, Archives of Manitoba.
Manitoba School Records Collection, Houston School District No. 214 - Cash Books, GR2656, Archives of Manitoba.
Manitoba School Records Collection, Houston School District No. 214 - Miscellaneous Records, GR2656, Archives of Manitoba.
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]
This page was prepared by Nathan Kramer, Al Schmidt (Altona and District Heritage Research Centre), Gordon Goldsborough, and Jake Rempel.
Page revised: 8 August 2025
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