Prior to the formation of Oakdale School District, in May 1892, classes were held in a log cabin. A frame school building was later erected on a hill in the southwest quarter of 15-14-14, west of the Principal Meridian, in what is now the Municipality of North Cypress-Langford. It burned to the ground in the Christmas week of 1918. From January 1919 to June 1921, classes were held in a nearby residence because plans for construction of a new school were delayed while discussion of consolidation with an adjacent school district were underway. In 1921, a new building was constructed and classes resumed. It closed in June 1941. The building was eventually sold and moved to Neepawa for use as a store and office for a farm- and garden-supply business. It later became a horse barn.
The teachers of Oakdale School were Joseph Little, C. E. Short, Nellie Conner, M. Wemple, John Duncan, C. J. Dalyiel, Kate Drysdale, Millie Montagne, Robena Taylor, Nellie McLaren, L. A. Gorrie, Richard Collier, Miss Bates, Mabel Johnson, Charlotte Jackson, Ethel Shipley, Millie Porteus, Miss E. J. Beal, Hilda McMillan (1914-1916), Ferne Grose (1916), Florence Cruickshank (1916-1917), Eva Astrophe (1917-1918), Magdalen Hill (1918-1920), Flora Davidson (1920), Isabelle Sutherland (1921), Emily Ferguson (1922), Audrey Leach (1923-1925), Leolle Thomson (1925-1926), Molly Hawkins (1926-1928), Irene Coutts (1928-1929), Betty LePage (1929-1930), Mabel Beattie (1930-1932), Doris Charleson (1932-1933), Ada M. Allen (1933-1937), Alberta Kennedy (1937-1939), Edith Sudbury (1939-1940), and Audrey Young (1940-1941).
Oakdale School (no date) by W. C. Hartley
Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs,
GR8461, A0233, C131-1, page 113.Site Coordinates (lat/long): N50.18120, W99.30520
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.
First Century of Langford, 1891-1991 by Langford Centennial History Committee, 1990, pages 54-56.
The Beautiful Plains Story: 1983-2008 by Neepawa and Area History Committee, 2008, page 158.
This page was prepared by Allan Drysdale and Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 31 January 2021
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