Erected in July 1983, the monument at this site, in the southwest quarter of 36-14-23 west of the Principal Meridian, in what is now the Municipality of Hamiota, commemorates the former community of Viola Dale. Named for Mable Viola Middleton, a daughter of local pioneer Frank Middleton, the community was established in 1879. A post office opened here in 1882, a church operated from 1885 to 1917, and Viola Dale Union School No. 326 from 1885 to 1912 (consolidated with McConnell School). In 1911, with the arrival in the area of the Canadian Northern Railway, the community moved to 12-15-23W and was renamed McConnell. The Viola Dale church was moved to McConnell where it continued to be used for services until it was destroyed by fire in 1954.
Teachers at the Viola Dale School included: Kate Templeton (1885), Ida Lynch (1887), Miss Templeton (1889), A. J. Tufts (1891), H. E. Hicks (1892), Allyson Adams (1896), Mrs. Haache (1898), S. G. Brown (1900, 1904), R. F. Middleton (1901), Anna Unission (1905), Alice Kirk (1908), Miss McNutt (1908), Esther Hyndman (1909), Mary Rankin (1910), Jessie Allen (1911), Grace Sutherland (1912), Miss Craven (1914), Gertie Winstone (1914), Margo Haacke (1916), Miss Johnson (1916), and Miss MacCallum (1917-1919).
Viola Dale commemorative monument (October 2011)
Source: Gordon GoldsboroughSite Coordinates (lat/long): N50.24109, W100.50760
denoted by symbol on the map above
McConnell: Little Town Lost by McConnell Women’s Institute and History Committee, 1979.
Geographic Names of Manitoba, Manitoba Conservation, 2000.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 30 January 2021
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