The Spurgrave School District was organized formally in June 1908, taking its name from a nearby railway station which, in turn, referred to the grave marker of a deceased railway worker at this site, in what would later become the Rural Municipality of Piney. (The railway stop was subsequently renamed Carrick, in honour of the Mayor of Port Arthur, Ontario when the line became part of the Canadian Northern line between Winnipeg and Port Arthur.) A log school building was constructed. In 1936, it became part of the Piney Municipal School No. 1360 and operated until closing permanently in 1966. The former school building and its attached teacherage, which are now used as a community centre, became a municipally-designated historic site in 2002.
Among the teachers who worked at Spurgrave School were Emma Marion (1909), Maxime Goulet (1910-1912), Hailley McLaughlin (1912), Alfred Marsh (1912), Clare Bubneck (1913), Rose Gendron (1914), H. W. Gregor Brown (1914-1915), R. Gourvitch (1915-1917), Caroline James (1916-1918), S. Stefansson (1918-1919), G. Head (1918-1919), A. B. Campbell (1918-1919), M. L. McNeil (1920-1921), Rupert Koppa (1920-1922), Jennie Sherebrin (1922-1924), V. Heard (1924-1925), D. Baker (1925-1926), B. Gilchrish (1925-1926), Martha A. Buck (1926-1929), Helen Stenhouse (1929-1930), Leah Bourk (1932-1934), Anna Toupin (1934-1937), Sanford Kirbyson (1937-1938), William Kirbyson (1938-1940), Goldie Csuzdi (1940-1942), Minnie Ratner (1942-1943), Theresa Courchaine (1943-1945), Edwina Aquin (1945-1946), Fernand Bernardin (1946-1947), Blanche Carbonneau (1946-1949), Theresa Guimond (1949-1950), Helen Prociw (1950-1952), Giselle Hornick (1952-1953), Rose Woronowski (1953-1954), Frances Bachinski (1954-1955), Anthony Kozachenko (1955-1958), Anthony Malliniuk (1958-1959), and Helen Turman (1959-1966).
Spurgrave School (no date) by Clarence Moore
Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs,
GR8461, A0233, C131-2, page 123.
The former Spurgrave School building (September 2013)
Source: Gordon GoldsboroughSite Coordinates (lat/long): N49.23783, W96.04434
denoted by symbol on the map above
See also:
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Municipally Designated Historic Sites
Spurgrave School, SE 28-3-11E, Carrick, Manitoba Historic Resources Branch.
We thank Doris Hovorka (Sprague and District Historical Museum), Jim Danilchuk, and Samantha Silvester for providing information used here.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 22 October 2021
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!
