Historic Sites of Manitoba: Pine Ridge School No. 608 (RM of Springfield)

The Pine Ridge School District was established formally in June 1889 and a building was erected at SW16-12-5E in the Rural Municipality of Springfield. It was replaced, in 1905, with a two-room structure, with grades one to four taught in one room, and grades five to nine in the other. Teachers resided in a four-room cottage nearby. The present building was erected in 1950. When Birds Hill Provincial Park was established, it was moved to the end of Nimowin Road and used for interpretive workshops. Its original location was at N50.00410, W96.86427 (SW16-12-5E).

Some of the teachers who taught at Pine Ridge School included Albert Haller (1906-1908), John A. May (1908-1912), A. Wolaszynski (1912), N. W. Pilcha (1912-1918), Anna Lackman (1918), Ivy E. Pervice Henson (1919), Mary C. Miller (1920), Marjorie Casey (1921), Elsie Finnie George (1921), Elizabeth White (1923), Anna Hermann (1923), Albina Karman (1924-1927), Sophie Cherry (1925), K. Livingstone (1926, 1928-1932), Mabel B. Smiethers (1928-1931, 1933), Mrs. M. B. Hunter (1933), Mrs. Anne Keith (1934-1937), Mary E. Bone (1934), M. E. Evenden (1935-1936), Edith G. P. Leech (1937), Janet S. Stewart (1937-1938), Mary Kornelsen (1939-1941), Alice Mary Elizabeth Tweddell (1939), Lillian Mae Brister (1940), Mary A. Williams (1941), Christine Sweinson (1942-1945), Irene Blanchard (1943), Alice J. Shalay (1944), Beatrice Sweinson (1945), Anna Gloria Pastushenko (1946-1947), Anne Rogoski (1946), Mrs. V. A. Kochie (1947), Ruth Hayward (1948, 1951-1952), Irene Bircham (1948-1949, 1951-1953), Anne Helen Epp (1950), Joyce Reives (1950), Dess O. Whiteman (1953-1957), Donald Zaporzan (1954), Eileen Zaporzan (1954), John Baydock (1955-1956), Rose Alexandra Baydock (1955-1956), Edward Lefteruk (1958-1959), Elsie Finnie George (1960-1962), M. McTavish (1962), and A. Nickel (1964).

Pine Ridge School (no date) by J. E. S. Dunlop Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs, GR8461, A0233, C131-1, page 96. Interior of Pine Ridge School (1921) by Elsie Finnie George Source: George Stewart Pine Ridge School teacherage with teachers Elsie Finnie and Marjorie Casey (1921) by Elsie Finnie George Source: George Stewart The former Pine Ridge School building (August 2015) Source: Nathan Kramer Site Coordinates (lat/long): N50.03390, W96.86303 denoted by symbol on the map above

Sources:

Selkirk topographic map, 62I/2, Edition 2, Series A743 [Archives of Manitoba].

Springfield: 1st Rural Municipality in Manitoba, 1873-1973 by Dugald Women’s Institute, 1974.

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.

Pine Ridge Self-Guiding Trail, Manitoba Conservation.

We thank Emily English (Birds Hill Provincial Park) and Kelly-Anne Richmond (Manitoba Conservation and Water Stewardship) for their assistance in locating Pine Ridge School, and Nathan Kramer for providing a modern photo of it. Photos of the school interior and teacherage were provided by Eileen George and George Stewart.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 11 March 2023

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