Historic Sites of Manitoba: Oakville School No. 655 (Oakville, RM of Portage la Prairie)

Link to:
Principals | Vice-Principals | Teachers | Photos & Coordinates | Sources

The bell on top of a monument in front of Oakville School came from the preceding school building erected in 1906 that was destroyed by fire in May 1959. That school resulted from the consolidation of several surrounding smaller schools, including Elm River School No. 622, Oakville School No. 655, Fortier School No. 741, Ingleside School No. 831, Beautiful Valley School No. 924, Mill Creek School No. 929, and East Curtis School No. 1187.

The present Oakville School was designed by the Winnipeg architectural firm of Smith Carter Searle and Associates and constructed in 1960 by the Surety Construction Company. A monument beside the school was erected in 1970 by the citizens of Oakville and district.

Principals

Period

Principal

1915-1917

Agnes Davidson (c1868-?)

1917-1918

George Robert Farrar Prowse (1860-1946)

1918-1923

John Houston

1923-1926

William George Delgaty (1901-1988)

1926-1927

Eva Calverley (1895-1988)

1927-1929

Winnifred Dorcas Boughton (1900-?)

1929-1932

Orville Ernest Holmes (1905-1987)

1932-1934

Allan J. Ryckman (1910-1982)

1934-1936

Stanley Corbett “Stan” Henderson (1910-1997)

1936-1939

Thomas Ambrose Farenhurst (1907-1977)

1939-1941

James A. Jickling

1941-1942

Benjamin “Ben” [Pope] Popeski (1913-1995)

1942-1945

Austin Alfred Dale (1911-2003)

1945-1955

Arthur Cecil Diehl (1910-1990)

1955-1957

James H. G. Smith

1957-1958

Roy E. Lavack

1958-1959

Jean Paul Guenette

1959-1963

John H. Arnason

1963-1974

Emily Whyte “Ruth” Holliday (1914-2011)

Teachers

Among the teachers of Oakville School was Margaret Creighton.

Photos & Coordinates

Oakville School building erected in 1891 by Portage la Prairie builder and architect James A. MacDonald

Oakville School building erected in 1891 by Portage la Prairie builder and architect James A. MacDonald (circa 1906)
Source: Education Department Report, 1906, Manitoba Legislative Library.

Oakville School building erected in 1906

Oakville School building erected in 1906 (circa 1906)
Source: Education Department Report, 1906, Manitoba Legislative Library.

Sketch of the Oakville School building by Charlotte Jones

Sketch of the Oakville School building by Charlotte Jones
Source: University Women’s Club of Portage la Prairie

Oakville School

Oakville School (no date)
Source: Rob McInnes, MN1426

Oakville School

Oakville School (no date)
Source: Gordon Goldsborough, 2022-0061

Oakville School under construction

Oakville School under construction (August 1960)
Source: PCI Archive, Vopni Press Collection, VP-1-00276-004.

Oakville School under construction

Oakville School under construction (August 1960)
Source: PCI Archive, Vopni Press Collection, VP-1-00276-002.

Oakville School under construction

Oakville School under construction (August 1960)
Source: PCI Archive, Vopni Press Collection, VP-1-00276-001.

Oakville School commemorative monument

Oakville School commemorative monument (September 2010)
Source: Gordon Goldsborough

Site Coordinates (lat/long): N49.93095, W98.00404
denoted by symbol on the map above

See also:

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Oakville North School No. 655 (Oakville, RM of Portage la Prairie)

Manitoba Business: Smith Carter and Katelnikoff / Smith Carter Architects and Engineers / Architecture49

Manitoba Business: Surety Construction Company

Sources:

Annual Reports of the Manitoba Department of Education, Manitoba Legislative Library.

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.

Rural Schools of Portage la Prairie School Division #24 by Muriel Wright, 1996.

“Tenders [Oakville School],” Winnipeg Tribune, 22 April 1960, page 27.

Biographical Dictionary of Architects in Canada, 1800-1950 by Robert G. Hill, Toronto.

We thank Rob McInnes and Darryl Toews for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 14 June 2024

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