The Poplar Park School District was established formally in August 1888 and a one-room schoolhouse was built at NE32-15-6E in the Rural Municipality of St. Clements, on an acre of land donated by Charles Mattson near the St. James Anglican Church. The original school was replaced by one built on a new two-acre site about a mile south and ¼ mile east of the former site and classes began there in May 1913. Later that summer, the original school building was burned down. The second school operated until January 1962 when it was destroyed by fire. The school trustees, suspecting that school consolidation would likely occur in the near future, elected not to build a new school. Instead, they purchased the former Hoey East schoolhouse and moved it to the Poplar Park site. In 1966, the school closed and the district was dissolved, its area becoming part of the Lord Selkirk School Division. Students in this area were bused to Happy Thought School in East Selkirk. The former school building was sold and renovated into a private residence. In 2018, a commemorative sign was installed at the former school site.
The teachers of Poplar Park School were Patrick Bruce (1888-1894), Thomas W. Carter (1895, 1896, 1897), Frederic A. Corbett (1895-1896), James A. Laird (1896-1897), R. W. Dunlop (1898), Jean Clendenning (1899-1900), Mary Clelland (1901), Thomas Andrew Anderson (1901-1905, 1906), George G. McCulloch (1905), Lillie LaPointe (1906-1907), Gertrude Mason (1907-1908), Helen A. Cormer (1908), Jessamine Carey (1908-1909), Kate Bayliss (1910), Anna McLean (1910-1911), Janet E. Sinclair (1911), J. Leslie (1912), H. Powell (1912), Lavinia McKenzie (1912), Wilhemina McLaughlin (1912-1913), John D. Sutherland (1913-1914), H. S. Korwecki (1914), Peter Budzinsky (1914-1916, 1917), K. B. Gwozdz (1916), Stephen Sawula (1917-1918), Rebecca Knelman (1918-1919), Frances Hreczuk (1919-1920), Helen Zado (1920-1921), Nicholas Bilash (1921-1922), Elizabeth W. Ehman (1922-1924), Hnat Platsko (1924-1925), Theodore Fred Humeniuk (1925-1928), Catherine F. Morrow (1928-1929), Joseph Anton Lucko (1929-1931), Olga J. Masciuch (1931-1934), Victoria Alexandra Masciuch (1934), Stephen E. Radomsky (1935), Catherine Kissuk (1935-1936), William John Prochuk (1936-1940), John Samuel Evanchuk (1940-1943), Emil Joseph Borsa (1943-1944), Mrs. Lula Squire (1944-1945), Paul N. Kozak (1945-1949), Eveline F. Zegil (1949-1950), Joyce Neufield (1950), Edith Sophia Bethel (1950), Jean Senicie (1950-1952), Mary Bazinet (1952-1955), George Capar (1955-1957), Donald Nicholas Lefteruk (1957-1960), Mrs. Myrtle Anne Feniuk (1960-1962, 1966), Mrs. Verna Wusaty (1962-1965), Michael Allen Derwin (1966), and Metro Lysaichuk (1966).
Poplar Park School with teacherage at right (no date) by J. E. S. Dunlop
Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs,
GR8461, A0233, C131-1, page 87.
Poplar Park School (no date) by J. E. S. Dunlop
Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs,
GR8461, A0233, C131-1, page 87.
Poplar Park teacherage (no date) by J. E. S. Dunlop
Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs,
GR8461, A0233, C131-1, page 87.
Poplar Park School commemorative sign (August 2018)
Source: Gordon GoldsboroughSite Coordinates (lat/long): N50.31363, W96.71351
denoted by symbol on the map above
School District Formation Files [Poplar Park School District No. 545], GR1688, E0027, Archives of Manitoba.
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.
East Side of the Red, 1884-1984 by St. Clements Historical Committee, 1984.
School Districts of the Libau Area of Manitoba, 1887-1967 by Charlene Dusyk and Sylvia Sweetland, Winnipeg, 2017.
We thank Borislaw N. Bilash II and Nathan Kramer for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 14 May 2023
Historic Sites of Manitoba
This is a collection of historic sites in Manitoba compiled by the Manitoba Historical Society. The information is offered for historical interest only.
Browse lists of:
Museums/Archives | Buildings | Monuments | Cemeteries | Locations | OtherInclusion in this collection does not confer special status or protection. Official heritage designation may only come from municipal, provincial, or federal governments. Some sites are on private property and permission to visit must be secured from the owner.
Site information is provided by the Manitoba Historical Society as a free public service only for non-commercial purposes.
Send corrections and additions to this page
to the MHS Webmaster at webmaster@mhs.mb.ca.Help us keep history alive!
