The South Antler School District was established formally in November 1884 and through the years it operated schools at three sites in what is now the Municipality of Two Borders. From 1885 to 1888, the school was situated at 28-1-27W then, from 1888 to 1914 at 4-2-27W. Destroyed by fire in the latter year, a new wood frame, one-classroom structure was built by contractor Robert Nicholas Wyatt at SE6-2-27W (about N49.09160, W101.07209), opening in 1915. Closed temporarily between 1942 and 1948, due to low student enrollment, the school closed permanently in 1954. The building was sold at auction in 1961 and the district was dissolved in 1962. Henceforth, students from this area went to Edward Municipal School No. 2353. A rock monument commemorates the school at this location, about two miles east of its former site. Some records for South Antler School are held at the Antler River Museum in Melita.
Among the teachers of South Antler School were S. A. Preston (1887-1889), Sarah Bride (1889-1891), Maggie F. McRae (1891-1892), James McNeil (1892-1894), Robert Fletcher (1894-1895), A. E. Kenner (1895), Dusse Yeomans Lee (1896), J. McNeil (1896-1897), R. D. Bruce (1897-1898), William Burnett (1898-1900), Annie Hodnett (1900-1902), Edward Brice (1902-1903), Miss Tighe (1903-1904), Edwin L. Little (1905-1906), Lavina Whittaker (1905-1906), Christina J. McFadden (1906-1907), William D. Bayley (1907-1908), Margaret M. Morrison (1908-1909), Charles J. R. Siddle (1909-1910), Mayne McFedtridge (1910-1911), Ellen Cameron (1911), Emma J. Perry (1911-1913), Grace Burns (1913-1914), Dell Park (1914-1915), F. McKinnon (1915-1916), Minnie McKague (1916-1917), Cora Pridgeon (1917-1918), Laura Darby (1918-1919), Hazel McSawyer (1919-1921), Gladys Bahone (1921-1923), Alice Rusenel (1923-1926), F. E. Fletcher (1926-1927), Edna M. Eldred (1927-1929), Marion Barton (1929-1930), Ruby Robertson (1930-1933), Irene Robertson Cameron (1933-1935), Ella T. Aitkens Smith (1935-1937), Eileen Crowe Alston (1937-1939), Constance Clarke Dann (1939-1940), Sarah Wilson (1940-1942), Donald L. Thierry (1948-1949), Dorothy Thompson (1949-1950), Yvonne Loiselle (1950-1951), Gordon Stone (1951-1952), Gillan Greaves (1952-1953), Mrs. Gordon Peddon (1953-1954), and Patricia Lynn Scott (1954).
South Antler School (no date) by George Hunter
Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs,
GR8461, A0233, C131-1, page 24.
South Antler School commemorative monument (September 2012)
Source: Gordon Goldsborough
South Antler School commemorative monument (July 2024)
Source: Rose KuzinaSite Coordinates (lat/long): N49.08889, W101.02668
denoted by symbol on the map above
See also:
Memorable Manitobans: Robert Nicholas Wyatt (1877-1954)
Historic Sites of Manitoba: North Antler School No. 514 (Municipality of Two Borders)
Gainsborough East topographic map, 62F/03 East, Edition 1, Series A743 [Archives of Manitoba].
Our First Century, Town of Melita and Municipality of Arthur: 1884-1984 by Melita-Arthur History Committee, 1983, pages 258-259.
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.
We thank Rose Kuzina for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 16 August 2024
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