The West Hall School District was established in August 1888. A one-room schoolhouse was built on an acre of land bought from the Weightman family, at NE4-5-22W in what is now the Municipality of Grassland. The school opened on 12 May 1889 with Ontario-born teacher Celia Calder in charge. A few years later, a second acre was purchased to expand the playground for the children. The school closed permanently in 1957, after which its catchment area was distributed between Elgin Consolidated School District and Hartney Consolidated School District in 1964. The former schoolhouse was sold at auction and a stone monument, unveiled on 21 July 1967, marks its former site.
Among the teachers of West Hall School were Celia Calder (1889), Miss Bradley (1894), Maud Hathaway (1894-1896), Miss Mustard Elizabeth Snelgrove (1915), Louisa Scott (1916-1918), James E. Maynard (1919), V. W. Sexton (1920-1922), Clifford A. Harris (1923), Sara M. Lougheed (1924), Kathleen Keller (1925), Clara B. Haskin (1926), Maude Eileen Bradley (1927-1928), Florence Margaret McArter (1929-1933), Ruth Elizabeth Hodgson (1934-1938), Grace Madeline Marie Cassils (1939-1941), Mildred (Elizabeth) Weidenhamer (1942-1943), Elva (Irene) Johnson (1944), Barbara Jean Godfrey (1945), Hazel Loretta Woods (1946), Mary (Christina) Jones (1947), Dorothy (Agnes) Dunn (1948), Ruby (Willene) More (1949-1950), Helen Louise Crowe (1951), Beulah Ross (1952-1953), Doris G. Atkinson (1954), Margaret Makinson (1955), Mary (Christina) Jones (1956-1957), and Marguerite Lagloire (1958).
West Hall School (1894)
Source: Elgin Museum
West Hall School (no date) by George Hunter
Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs,
GR8461, A0233, C131-1, page 88.
Colin More Jr. unveiling the West Hall School commemorative monument (July 1967)
Source: Barry More
West Hall School commemorative monument (November 2013)
Source: Gordon GoldsboroughSite Coordinates (lat/long): N49.37011, W100.38666
denoted by symbol on the map above
Our Heritage by Regent Women’s Institute, c1967, pages 3-4. [Manitoba Legislative Library, F5649.R44 Reg]
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.
A Century of Living: Hartney, 1882-1982 by Hartney and District Historical Committee, 1982. [Manitoba Legislative Library, F5649.H37 Cen]
We thank the Elgin Museum for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough and Barry More.
Page revised: 10 March 2022
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