Stephenfield School District No. 518 was established formally in March 1887, in the northwest quarter of 18-6-6 west of the Principal Meridian, in the Rural Municipality of Dufferin. It was named for local settler John Stevenson, on whose land the school was situated.
The first school building opened in 1889, being replaced in 1906 by a structure designed by Carman architect Edmund Watson, and located at NW19-6-6W. The school operated until November 1920 when it joined with Lusk School No. 2048 to become Stephenfield Consolidated School No. 2048 at NW20-6-6W. In 1948, high student enrollment necessitated the construction of a second room and the hiring of a second teacher. Grades 1 to 4 were held in one room, and grades 5 to 10 in the other. A closeable partition between the rooms could be opened to provide a larger space for community events.
The teachers of Stephenfield School were Evelena Bell (1889), Archibald Alexander McPhail (1890-1892), Susie Carrigan (1893), G. W. Staples (1894), J. E. Tisdale (1894), R. W. Cumming (1895), Jenny M. Waldie (1896), R. McNevin (1897), E. M. McFarlane (1898), Maude H. Grant (1899-1900), Robert C. Warden (1901), Edith A. Young (1905), Dougald McIntyre (1906), Beatrice Campbell (1906-1907), Grace Dunlop (1908), Donald McLeod (1908), Roland H. B. North (1908), Ethel Johnson (1909), Mabel Leslie (1909), Jean E. Coutts (1910), Margaret Bruce Stark (1911), Elizabeth Closs (1912), Miss E. York (1912), Lilian Bready (1913), Archie Purcell (1913-1914), Isabelle May (1915-1916), Miriam Helman (1916), Cliff Gunn (1917-1918), Eleanor French (1918-1919), Gertrude Hamblin (1919-1921), A. T. Purcell (1921-1923), Mrs. A. E. Baldwin (1924-1925), Mrs. A. Brockman (1925-1926), Nellie Hamblin Stevenson (1927-1930), Olive G. Findlay (1930), Nellie B. Armson (1931-1935), Rita M. Lynch (1935-1938), Thelma Ellerington (1938-1940), Hazel L. Poyser (1940-1941), Miss M. Bulstein (1941), Miss B. Oxley (1941-1942), Annette Marchand (1942-1943), Anne Evalin Black (1943-1944), Catherine M. Byrne (1944-1945), Mrs. Cecil Mary Burton (1945-1946), Anne B. Wiens (1946-1949), V. Ross (1948-1949), Myrtle Munday (1949-1950), Anne Neufeld (Mrs. John A. Unrau) (1949-1953), Lillian Shackleton (1951-1953), Alex Klimchuk (1953-1954), Rosalie Orchard (1953-1954), Wilhelmine I. Cochran (1954-1956), Nellie Hamblin Stevenson (1954-1957), Fern Bottrell (1956-1957), Robert Hobbs (1957-1959), Katherine I. Wuschenny (1957-1958), Cynthia Keith (1959-1960), James Refvik (1959-1960), Joan McIntosh (1960-1965), Mrs. Ruby Gray (1960-1966), and Harry F. Tiessen (1965-1966).
The school closed in April 1961 and the district was dissolved that July. The building and site were used for school purposes by the Graysville School District until, in 1966, they were sold to local farmer Jacob Bergen, who moved the building to his farmyard (about N49.49445, W98.25508). As of 2013, the building was standing abandoned. A monument was dedicated at its former site during a reunion held on 4-5 August 1990.
Stephenfield School before addition of a second classroom (no date) by A. J. Manning
Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs,
GR8461, A0233, C131-3, page 84.
Some former Stephenfield School students and trustees during the unveiling of the school monument (August 1990)
Source: Len Goldsborough
Stephenfield School commemorative monument (August 2010)
Source: Gordon Goldsborough
Stephenfield School commemorative monument (September 2023)
Source: Rose Kuzina
The former Stephenfield School building (June 2013)
Source: Gordon Goldsborough
Interior of the former Stephenfield School building (June 2013)
Source: Gordon GoldsboroughSite Coordinates (lat/long): N49.50081, W98.25037
denoted by symbol on the map above
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.
“Stephenfield School District, No. 518 and No. 2048, 1889-1966,” Reunion and Dedication, August 4 & 5, 1990, unpublished pamphlet held by Gordon Goldsborough.
Roseisle School: 1892-1992, A Century of Service to the Community, compiled by Ina Leary Bramadat, 2006.
Biographical Dictionary of Architects in Canada, 1800-1950 by Robert G. Hill, Toronto.
We thank Joan Hodgson Goldsborough and Rose Kuzina for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 7 November 2023
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