Historic Sites of Manitoba: Rivers School No. 1484 / Rivers Anniversary Monument (Rivers, Municipality of Riverdale)

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

A monument in Rivers, in the Municipality of Riverdale, was erected in July 1988 to commemorate the 75th anniversary of its formal incorporation as a Village. Also at the site is the original bell from Rivers Consolidated School No. 1484, which stood nearby from 1910 to 1974, built on a design by Brandon architect William Alexander Elliott. A monument that appears to have once had a large plaque imbedded in it now has a small plaque commemorating the coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth on 12 May 1937.

Principals

Period

Principal

1913-1919

James McNeil (1866-1954)

1919-1920

John Simpson

1920-1921

Peter Abraham Klassen (1886-1963)

1921-1923

Angus McNevin (1862-1923)

1923

D. McLeod

1923-1924

W. W. Ferrier

1924-1925

Thomas Orton Durnin (1889-1964)

1925-1927

John Osborn Wilson (1900-1972)

1927-1929

Lewis Emmett Lynd (1876-1961)

1929-1930

Benjamin Hodkinson (1864-1948)

1930-1953

Wilfred Inglis Stewart (1898-1964)

1953-c1969

John Wesley Lorne Graham (1904-2000)

Principals (Rivers High School)

Period

Principal

1959-1965

Robert Leslie McIntosh (1925-2011)

1965-1968

Arnold J. Nicholls

1968-1973

B. Ward

Teachers

School Year

Teachers

1917-1918

R. I. Cobbledick, E. M. Dunsmore, A. M. Harrison, J. Miners

1918-1919

Edith L. Cathers, E. M. Dunsmore, A. M. Harrison, J. Miners

1919-1920

Edith L. Cathers (grades 4-5, August-December), Pearl Vera Clarke (grades 2-3, August-December), Lizzie E. Hardy (grades 4-5, January-June), Astella A. Harrison (grades 6-7, August-December), Helen R. Hayden (grades 3-4, January-June), Emma M. Riddell (grades 9-10, January-June), Lucille Rose (grade 1, August-December), Alice Shaver (grades 9-10, August-December), John Simpson (grades 8 & 11), Effie Irene Weir (grades 6-7, January-June), Mary R. Williams (grade 1, January-June), Mildred S. Williams (grade 2, January-June), Gertrude W. Wishart (grade 2, August-December)

1920-1921

M. Campbell, May Emrick, Helen R. Hayden, Peter Abraham Klassen (senior grades), Ivy Miners, Mary R. Williams, Mildred S. Williams

1921-1922

O. G. Delbridge, A. I. McFadden, I. M. Miners, J. M. Miners

1922-1923

L. Bastard, O. G. Delbridge, H. Jaffray, Ivy Miners, J. M. Miners, G. Thompson

1923-1924

L. Bastard, A. Jones, I. Miners, Jessie Miners, G. Thompson

1924-1925

L. A. Bastard, A. Jones, I. Miners, Jessie Miners, Irene Peden

1925-1926

A. I. McFadden, Ivy Miners, Irene Peden

1926-1927

A. I. McFadden, I. M. Miners, Jessie Miners, Irene Peden, Muriel O. Travers

1927-1928

A. I. McFadden, I. M. Miners, J. M. Miners, M. I. Mitchell

1928-1929

K. Adcock, Rose Hyndman, A. I. McFadden, I. Miners, M. Mitchell

Among the other teachers at Rivers School were Nicholas Melnychuk, Jean Suszko, and Ronald Keith Pettapiece (c1952).

Photos & Coordinates

Postcard view of Rivers Consolidated School

Postcard view of Rivers Consolidated School (no date)
Source: Gordon Goldsborough, 2011-0110

Members of a Rivers football club (CNR Car Department) have their photo taken on the Rivers School steps

Members of a Rivers football club (CNR Car Department) have their photo taken on the Rivers School steps (1910)
Front row (L-R): T. Steward, D. Sutherland, S. Kelly, L. Tottenham, H. Tattersall
Second row: A. Reid, H. Evans, M. Burton
Third row: J. Bell, W. Penny, C. Blandford
Back row: G. Foley, A. Belcher, J. A. Mitchell, N. Hooper, J. Bell, Albert “Bert” Franklin
Source: Derek Mclay

Rivers School with $40,000 addition

Rivers School with $40,000 addition (circa 1920)
Source: Education Department Report, 1920, Manitoba Legislative Library.

Rivers School

Rivers School (no date) by A. J. Hatcher
Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs,
GR8461, A0233, C131-2, page 126.

Van used to transport students to the Rivers Consolidated School, with driver Bob Mills. Male students were unidentified but girls were (left to right): Violet Bowman, Fanny Varcoe, Belle Robins, Eva Robins, Peg Robins, and Mabel Bowman

Van used to transport students to the Rivers Consolidated School, with driver Bob Mills. Male students were unidentified but girls were (left to right): Violet Bowman, Fanny Varcoe, Belle Robins, Eva Robins, Peg Robins, and Mabel Bowman (circa 1912)
Source: Olive Bowman Lee (via James Frank)

Rivers School

Rivers School (1967)
Source: Archives of Manitoba, Architectural Survey - Rivers 4.

Rivers anniversary monument

Rivers anniversary monument (September 2011)
Source: Gordon Goldsborough

Rivers anniversary monument

Rivers anniversary monument (July 2021)
Source: George Penner

Site Coordinates (lat/long): N50.03364, W100.23727
denoted by symbol on the map above

See also:

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Pendennis School No. 920 (Municipality of Riverdale)

Sources:

School division half-yearly attendance reports (E 0757), Archives of Manitoba.

“School report,” Rivers Gazette, 6 March 1919, page 8.

“School report,” Rivers Gazette, 8 April 1920, page 5.

“School report for February,” Rivers Gazette, 3 March 1921, page 5.

“School report for November,” Rivers Gazette, 15 December 1921, page 5.

“School report for May,” Rivers Gazette, 8 June 1922, page 5.

“School report for March,” Rivers Gazette, 5 April 1923, page 1.

“School report for March,” Rivers Gazette, 3 April 1924, page 1.

“School report for May,” Rivers Gazette, 4 June 1925, page 4.

“School report for May,” Rivers Gazette, 3 June 1926, page 6.

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

“Old Rivers school to be demolished,” Rivers Gazette Reporter, 27 June 1974, page 1.

Geographical Names of Manitoba, Winnipeg: Manitoba Conservation, c2000.

Biographical Dictionary of Architects in Canada, 1800-1950

We thank James Frank, George Penner, Nathan Kramer, and Derek Mclay for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 29 September 2024

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