Historic Sites of Manitoba: Little Mountain School No. 52 (Klimpke Road, RM of Rosser)

Link to:
Photos & Coordinates | Sources

The Little Mountain School District was established formally in March 1878. A one-room schoolhouse operated at NE21-11-2E in what would later be the Rural Municipality of Rosser. The original structure was relocated to the farm of school district trustee Hiram Ridge where it was converted into a family residence, later burning in a house fire. A second school building was constructed in 1902, at what is now the southwest corner of Klimpke Road and the old Inkster Boulevard (prior to the construction of CentrePort Canada Way). It sustained fire damage on 24 May 1948 but was saved, although on-site school records were lost in the blaze. The school re-opened and, in January 1958, the district became part of the Rosser Municipal School District. The school was closed on 30 June 1964. In 1971, the building and property was sold for $5,050, after which the building was used as a barn. At the time of a site visit in September 2018, it stood vacant but was in poor structural condition. It was demolished on 16 July 2020.

Among the teachers who worked at Little Mountain School through the years were Sam Newton, Thomas Beveridge (1884, 1888, 1889), A. C. Shafer (1885), Harriet Thompson (1886-1887), M? E. O’Brien (1889), Sarah J. Rankin (1889-1890), Ida M. Bond (1890), Clara Buist (1891), R. S. Marur (1891), Martha D? Christie (1892), Annie E. Fraser (1892-1894), A. W? Colfitts (1895), Charles Hickson (1895-1897), William L. MacKenzie (1898-1899), John Sawford Peach (1900), John R. English (1901), ? (1902-1904), Esther Lion (1905), Maud [Maude] Emes (1905-1907), Mary M. Thompson (1908-1909), Estelle P. Cromwell (1910), A. Edna Pope (1911, 1911-1913), L. C. Anderson (1911), A. Cameron (1913), Edna Huntley (1914, 1915), Marion A. Buckley (1915, 1916), Josephine Dumas (1915), J. A. McCullough (1915), Olive Rae (1916), Marion A. Buckley (1916), Helen M. McKelvy (1917-1918), Alma M. Kellington (1918-1919), Annie Cameron (1919-1921), Rachel I. Hill (1921), John Bruce Day (1922), Guy B. Stevens (1923), Hubert Harry Hooper (1923-1925), Robert Holloway (1925-1926), Ronald Victor Shearer (1927-1929), Walter William Mark (1929-1930), Muriel E. Paterson (1930-1935), Margaret Isabelle Morrison (1935-1939), Mary McIntyre Cummings (1939-1942), Alice Lawrence (1942-1943), Tena Siemens (1943-1944), Jeanette B. Gustafson Chimuk (1944-1946), Elizabeth D. Parr (1946-1947), Phyllis Irene Allinson Olson (1947-1949), Jean Bertha Rudy Gilson (1949-1951), Ivadell Doreen Bothwell Telford (1952-1955), Ruby Matwichuk Putaro (1955-1956), Justine Harriet McArthur (1956-1958), Lynne Murphy Solar (1958-1960), Elaine Margaret Georgine Elliott (1960-1961), and Jemima Florence Webster (1961-1964).

Photos & Coordinates

Little Mountain School (no date) by E. D. Parker Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs, GR8461, A0233, C131-1, page 19. The former Little Mountain School building (October 2014) Source: Nathan Kramer The former Little Mountain School building (October 2014) Source: Nathan Kramer The former Little Mountain School building (November 2016) Source: Nathan Kramer Interior of the former Little Mountain School building (September 2018) Source: Nathan Kramer Interior of the former Little Mountain School building (September 2018) Source: Nathan Kramer The former Little Mountain School building (October 2019) Source: Bert Schaffer The former Little Mountain School building (October 2019) Source: Bert Schaffer Site Coordinates (lat/long): N49.94563, W97.25297 denoted by symbol on the map above

Sources:

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 First Hundred Years, 1893-1993 by the Rosser Municipality Centennial History Book Committee.

A Study of Public School Buildings in Manitoba by David Butterfield, Historic Resources Branch, Manitoba Department of Culture, Heritage and Tourism, 1994, 230 pages.

Manitoba School Records Collection, Little Mountain School District No. 52, GR2043, Archives of Manitoba.

Manitoba School Records Collection, Little Mountain School District No. 2356, GR2043, Archives of Manitoba.

School division half-yearly attendance reports (E0757), Archives of Manitoba.

Summative half-yearly returns for school districts (A 0051), GR0571, Archives of Manitoba.

We thank Bert Schaffer and Marie Rouble for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Nathan Kramer.

Page revised: 11 September 2023

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