A metal sign marks the former site of Omar School in what is now the Municipality of Prairie View. Established formally in February 1902, a school building was erected the next year. The district’s name was derived from the first letters of the four families whose children attended the school: O’Callaghan, Mackee, Armstrong, and Ringland. In April 1919, it became part of the Miniota Municipal School District No. 149. By the early 1920s, the building was no longer in use so it was moved in 1923 to Isabella to become a classroom for Isabella School. It was known as the “Tin School” because of its exterior metal sheathing. When the Isabella School was demolished in 1954, the Tin School was renovated into a residence for former elevator agent Harry M. Levins.
Among the teachers of Omar School were Miss Lila Neelands, Miss Ellerington, Miss Eva Clyde, Miss Haight, Miss Weidenhamer (1910-1911), Miss Margaret Sutherland (1918), Miss Gillespie, Miss Lockhart, Miss Baker, Miss Fraser, Miss Evans, Miss Hodnett, Miss Gardner, Miss Fertney, and Miss Parkinson.
Omar School commemorative sign (October 2011)
Source: Gordon GoldsboroughSite Coordinates (lat/long): N50.21098, W100.96589
denoted by symbol on the map above
See also:
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Isabella School No. 1333 (Isabella, Municipality of Prairie View)
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.
Bridging the Years: 1879-1967 by Miniota Women's Institute, 1967, page 60.
Rural Reflections, Volume 2: 1879-1982 by Isabella History Committee, 1982, pages 134, 279.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 3 May 2021
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