Historic Sites of Manitoba: Sharon School No. 72 (RM of Thompson)

The Sharon School District was formally organized in December 1878 and a one-room log school building was constructed in 1881 on the farm of John Kennedy, at NE22-5-6W in the Rural Municipality of Thompson. It closed for a year, from 1893 to 1894, and the original structure was replaced in 1898 with a wood frame building at NW22-5-6W. This building was renovated in 1928 and operated until June 1949 when low student enrollment forced it to close. Henceforth, students from this area were bused to Miami School. The district was dissolved in 1954 and the former school building was sold in 1958, moved to SE15-5-6W, and renovated into a workshop. A commemorative monument was erected at the former school site.

Among the teachers who worked at Sharon School through the years were John Livingston (1881), Mike Babbington (1882), Edward Livingston (1883-1884), Mr. Smith (1884), Edward Campbell (1885-1886), George Durno (1886), Annie York (1887), James McGregor (1888, 1891), Bertie Graham (1889), Kate Lee (1890), Miss Frankie Duncan (1892), Miss Playfair (1894), Miss Bradshaw (1895-1896), Dorinda Coulter (1896), Alice Land (1897), Hilda Johnston (1898), Jennie Brethour (1898-1899), Violet Steadman (1900), Mary Campbell (1901), Mabel Smith (1902), Gertrude Mowbray (1903), Miss Hawken (1904), Miss Layton (1905), Russell Keyes (1905-1906), Barbara Norris (1906-1907), Ruth Whitely (1908-1909, 1910), Mary Boake (1909), Lila Hopkins (1911), Norma Petch (1912), Miss Emblom (1912-1913), Miss Davis (1914), Miss Guthrie (1914), Vesta Whitley (1914), May Anderson (1914-1915), Kathleen Standing (1915-1916), Mildred Loree (1917, 1919), L. Hill (1917), Cora Hefford (1917-1918), Lizzie Thomson (1919-1921), Miss Bryan (1921), Kathleen Spratt (1922-1923), Muriel Paterson (1923-1926), Elsie Pearse (1926-1927), Florence Turner (1927-1928), Helen Burchell (1928), Evelyn Carson (1928), Lizzie Lawson (1928), Arthur Lawson (1929-1930), Florence Menzies (1930-1938), Elizabeth Stevenson (1938-1945, 1946), Lorraine Scott (1945), Janet Peckover (1946), Jean Adair (1948), and Viola Edwards (1948-1949).

Sharon School (no date) Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs, GR8461, A0233, C131-1, page 31. Sharon School commemorative monument (October 2010) Source: Gordon Goldsborough Site Coordinates (lat/long): N49.41344, W98.20561 denoted by symbol on the map above

Sources:

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.

Miami & R. M. of Thompson Chronicles by Thompson History Book Committee, c1998. [Manitoba Legislative Library, F5649.M50Mia]

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 22 June 2019

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