The Wilford School District was established in February 1902 and a one-room schoolhouse operated at NE15-24-21W in what is now the Municipality of Gilbert Plains. The original wood frame school building was destroyed by fire on 1 September 1933 and a new, two-classroom structure replaced it. The district was dissolved in 1967 and its area became part of the Intermountain School Division. The former school building was sold and moved to a nearby farm where it was converted into a hog barn. A sign marks the school’s original location.
Among the teachers of Wilford School were Stephen Negrych (1948-1950) and William John “Bill” Wallace.
The original Wilford School building, destroyed in 1933 (no date) by H. L. Albright
Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs,
GR8461, A0233, C131-2, page 72.
The second, two-classroom Wilford School building (no date) by H. L. Albright
Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs,
GR8461, A0233, C131-2, page 72.
The second, two-classroom Wilford School building (no date) by H. L. Albright
Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs,
GR8461, A0233, C131-2, page 72.
Students of Wilford School with teacher Stephen Negrych (circa 1948)
Source: Negrych Pioneer Homestead
Wilford School commemorative sign (May 2014)
Source: Gordon GoldsboroughSite Coordinates (lat/long): N51.07501, W100.32094
denoted by symbol on the map above
“Two-roomed school near Gilbert Plains is burned,” Winnipeg Free Press, 4 September 1933, page 3.
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.
Country Schools of Gilbert Plains by Barry Randell, 2006.
We thank Ed Arndt and Nathan Kramer for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 20 March 2024
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