Historic Sites of Manitoba: Winnipeg Falls North School No. 1346 (Seven Sisters Falls, RM of Whitemouth)

Link to:
Principals | Vice-Principals | Teachers | Photos & Coordinates | Sources

The Winnipeg Falls School District was established in June 1905. Initially, a one-room schoolhouse operated at a site along highway 408 (about N50.08931, W96.02913) in the Rural Municipality of Whitemouth. The school opened to students in early 1907.

Construction of the Seven Sisters hydroelectric power dam commenced in 1929 and a new one-room schoolhouse was built nearer the facility, at this site. It became known as Winnipeg Falls North School and was home to grades one through eight. At the same time, the two-room Winnipeg Falls South School opened in the community of River Hills.

In the early 1930s, the Winnipeg Falls North School was replaced by the present structure and the original building was moved during the winter to a site at the junction of highways 44 and 408 (about N49.98776, W96.00886) where it stands empty. The second school operated until into the 1960s when it closed and the building was renovated into a private residence.

District Principals

Period

Principal

1929-1968

See Winnipeg Falls South School

Teachers

Among the teachers who worked at Winnipeg Falls North School through the years were Edward Cumberland (pt Spring 1907), Karl Karger? (pt Spring 1907), Gustave Pfaff (Fall 1907 - Spring 1909 & Fall 1916 - Spring 1917), Ed. Kugler (Fall 1909 - Spring 1910), William Gevers (Fall 1910 - Fall 1912), Ernest W. Lexow (Spring 1913, Fall 1914 - Spring 1916), Edna J. Spencer (Fall 1913 - Spring 1914), J. McTavish (Fall 1917), Pauline B. Young (January-May 1918), Felix Sauer (May-June 1918), Annie Greene (September-November 1918), Hans John G. Feller (November 1918 - Spring 1924), James Oswald (Fall 1924 - Spring 1925 & Fall 1927 - Spring 1928), William Henry Etsell (Fall 1925 - Spring 1926), Thelma Jean Dryborough (Fall 1928 - Spring 1929), Lena May Adams (Fall 1929 - Spring 1930), Nellie Julia Popkes (Fall 1930 - Spring 1936), William Murray Whiteway (Fall 1936 - Spring 1937), Mary Minnie Mroze (Fall 1937 - Spring 1941, September-? 1941, & January-? 1942), Gertrude Graeme Cousins (?-Deceember 1941, substitute), J. L. Cousins (pt. Spring 1942), Marie Zawaly Melnick (?-June 1942 & Fall 1942 - Spring 1943), Esther Anne Brandt (Fall 1943 - Spring 1944), Eunice Rattigan (Fall 1944 - Spring 1945), Anne Harder (Fall 1945 - Spring 1946), Nonnie Panchuk (Fall 1946 - Spring 1948, wife of Maurice Walter Peleshok), Josephine Hilda Keller (Fall 1948 - Spring 1949), Hilma Clara May Solar (Fall 1949 - Spring 1957), Kenneth Smith (Fall 1957 - Spring 1959), Walter Eric Saarela (Fall 1959 - Spring 1960), Frances Mary Gochowich (Fall 1960 - Spring 1962), Eleanor Emily Kazina Strick (Fall 1962 - Spring 1965), and Darlene Elizabeth Lackman (Fall 1965 - Spring 1967).

Photos & Coordinates

The original Winnipeg Falls North School

The original Winnipeg Falls North School (no date) by R. Goulet
Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs,
GR8461, A0233, C131-2, page 102.

Teacherage for the Winnipeg Falls North School

Teacherage for the Winnipeg Falls North School (no date) by R. Goulet
Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs,
GR8461, A0233, C131-2, page 102.

The original Winnipeg Falls North School, now located at N49.98776, W96.00886

The original Winnipeg Falls North School, now located at N49.98776, W96.00886 (October 2013)
Source: Gordon Goldsborough

The original Winnipeg Falls North School, now located at N49.98776, W96.00886

Interior of the original Winnipeg Falls North School, now located at N49.98776, W96.00886 (May 2021)
Source: Rose Kuzina

The former Winnipeg Falls North School building

The former Winnipeg Falls North School building (October 2013)
Source: Gordon Goldsborough

Site Coordinates (lat/long): N50.10635, W96.02186
denoted by symbol on the map above

See also:

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Winnipeg Falls South School No. 1346 (River Hills, RM of Whitemouth)

Sources:

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.

Trails to Rails to Highways edited by Bob Porth and Craig MacKenzie, Whitemouth Municipal Museum Society, 1979.

Summative half-yearly returns for school districts (A 0051), GR0571 & 7642, Archives of Manitoba.

School division half-yearly attendance reports (E 0757), Archives of Manitoba.

Manitoba School Records Collection, Winnipeg Falls School District No. 1346 (North School) - Daily Registers, GR9480, Archives of Manitoba.

Manitoba School Records Collection, Winnipeg Falls School District No. 1346 - Cash Books, GR9480, Archives of Manitoba.

We thank Rose Kuzina for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Robert Porth, Gordon Goldsborough, and Nathan Kramer.

Page revised: 5 October 2022

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