When Ukrainians arrived in Manitoba at the turn of the 20th century, some of them settled on a tract of land ten miles south of Steinbach in Township 5, Range 6 and Township 6, Range 7. This land was mostly poor quality with rocks and bush. The Ukrainians, not afraid of hard work, managed to cultivate it, raise livestock, and feed their families. In 1904, when postal services were established in the area, the local post office was named Sarto in honour of Pope Pious X del Sarto. Previously, the area had been known unofficially as New York.
Three school districts were organized in the region: Sarto School No. 1539 organized in 1910, Willow Plain School No. 1588 in 1911, and Slawna School No. 1624 in 1912. In later years, three other schools were added: Barkfield School No. 1951 in 1919, Carruthers School No. 2188 in 1928, and Tiny Creek School No. 2344 in 1952. These schools operated until 31 December 1967 when they became part of the Hanover School Division.
Restoration of Willow Plain School in the village of Sarto, in the Rural Municipality of Hanover, is being undertaken by the District School Heritage Association. In the 2000s, the building was part of the Manitoba Prairie Icons Program. It is a municipally designated historic site as of 2003.
Among the teachers at Willow Plain School were Stephen Yaremie? (Sping 1913), W. S. Lisowsky (Fall 1913), Peter Budzinsky (Spring-Fall 1914), Felise Hryorieuricki (Spring 1915), Emily Bilinska (Fall 1915 - Spring 1916 & Spring 1919), Burt McClung (Fall 1916), Anton Martzniuk (Spring-Fall 1917), M. Saranchuk (Spring 1918, & 1920-1921), Demetrius Rostocky (Fall 1919), Weston Sweet (1920), Peter Humeniuk (1920), D. A. D. Wright (1921, 1922), Eugene Kozlowsky (1921-1922), Rebecca Gillespie (1922-1923), H. R. McCaw (1923), John Frank Boitson (1923-1925 & night classes), I. Goresky (1925-1926), Donald MacGregor Stephens (1926-1928), A. R. Pateson (1928-1930), Stephen Nykyforuk (1930-1946; 1957 substitute), Olga Slotiuk (Fall 1946 - Fall 1949), Jean Gushuliak (Spring 1950), Thomas “Tom” Ladobruk (1950-1957), Andrew Rieger Sobering (1957), Stan Cholka (1958), Walter Kohut (1958-1964), and Sam Letwinetz (1964-1968).
Willow Plain School (no date) by James Tod
Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs,
GR8461, A0233, C131-2, page 144.
Willow Plain School (1968)
Source: Archives of Manitoba, Architectural Survey - Sarto 4.
The former Willow Plain School building (circa 1986)
Source: Historic Resources Branch, Public School Buildings Inventory, slide 530.
The former Willow Plain School building (September 2010)
Source: Gordon Goldsborough
The former Willow Plain School building (May 2020)
Source: Rose Kuzina
The former Willow Plain School building (August 2023)
Source: Rose Kuzina
Interior of the former Willow Plain School building (August 2023)
Source: Rose Kuzina
Willow Plain School commemorative plaque (August 2023)
Source: Rose KuzinaSite Coordinates (lat/long): N49.39956, W96.74495
denoted by symbol on the map above
See also:
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Municipally Designated Historic Sites
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Manitoba Prairie Churches Project / Manitoba Prairie Icons Project
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 Study of Public School Buildings in Manitoba by David Butterfield, Historic Resources Branch, Manitoba Department of Culture, Heritage and Tourism, 1994, 230 pages.
Willow Plain School, Manitoba Historic Resources Branch.
Manitoba School Records Collection, Willow Plain School District No. 1588 - Daily Registers, GR2656, Archives of Manitoba.
Summative half-yearly returns for school districts (A 0051), GR0571, Archives of Manitoba.
School division half-yearly attendance reports (E 0757), Archives of Manitoba.
Obituary [John Frank Boitson], Winnipeg Free Press, 14 March 1968, page 33.
We thank Ernest Braun, Steve Naherniak, Nathan Kramer, and Rose Kuzina for providing information used here.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 11 August 2023
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