Historic Sites of Manitoba: Alexander School No. 338 (Alexander, RM of Whitehead)

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

The Alexander School District was formally established in October 1884 at Alexander in the Rural Municipality of Whitehead. The first schoolhouse was built in 1886 on the south side of the railway. The 18 by 26 foot structure cost $600. A few years later, growing student enrollment necessitated the construction of a second classroom. In 1892, a three-room brick veneer building designed by Brandon architect Frederick J. Chubb was built at this site, at a cost of $2,930. Ten years later, a two-storey brick building was erected on a design by Brandon architect Walter H. Shillinglaw.

In 1945, Dalton School and Assiniboine School closed and their students came to Alexander School. In 1960, high school students were bused to Brandon, leaving only students in grades 1 to 8 at Alexander. In 1967, the Alexander School District became part of the Brandon School Division. The two-storey school was demolished sometime in the 1980s.

Principals

Period

Principal

1894-1895

Mr. Houston

1895-1898

?

1898-1899

Charles Kenning Newcombe (1877-1944)

1899-1900

John Percy Wadge (1875-1951)

1900-1904

James Boyd Morrison (1872-1941)

1904-1906

Erwin Knapp (1876-1951)

1906-1907

W. W. McDonald

1907-1909

J. H. Marsh

1909-1910

Thomas Flood Elmes (1848-1912)

1910-1912

?

1912-1914

John Stanley Hollies (1889-1916)

1914-1916

Earl Augustus Ross (1890-?)

1916-1918

Angus McNevin (1862-1923)

1918-1919

James Corrigill (1857-1922)

1919-1920

Francis Kethel “Frank” Coleridge (1865-1944)

1920-1923

Agnes Davidson

1923-1924

Ruth Parker (1894-1953)

1924-1925

Agnes Davidson (c1868-?)

1925-1929

Thomas William Ebbern (1879-1970)

1929-1932

Winnifred Dorcas Boughton (1900-?)

1932-1935

Weston Sweet (1899-1994)

1935-1938

Robert Stanley “Stan” McGill (1909-1994)

1938-1939

Walter George Crane (1906-1979)

1939-1941

Allan Alexander “Andy” Anderson (1892-1981)

1941-1942

William Harrison Lucow (1916-1986)

1942-1950

William George Hume (1902-1967)

1950-1953

Larry B. Clarke

1953-1955

J. W. Scott

1955-1959

John S. Adamack

1959-1960

L. C. Jackson

1960-1969

?

1969-1970

J. Braun

1970-1973

Ronald Leslie Chalmers

1973-1983

?

1983-1988

Paul Curtis

1988-?

Murray MacMillan

Teachers

School Year

Teachers

1886-1887

?

1887-1888

?

1888-1889

?

1889-1890

?

1890-1891

?

1891-1892

?

1892-1893

Miss E. S. D. Gustin, Andrew McBride, E. A. Osterhont

1893-1894

?

1894-1895

Nellie McBride, Miss Pollard

1895-1896

?

1896-1897

?

1897-1898

?

1898-1899

?

1899-1900

?

1900-1901

?

1901-1902

?

1902-1903

?

1903-1904

?

1904-1905

?

1905-1906

?

1906-1907

?

1907-1908

?

1908-1909

?

1909-1910

?

1910-1911

?

1911-1912

?

1912-1913

?

1913-1914

?

1914-1915

?

1915-1916

?

1916-1917

?

1917-1918

?

1918-1919

?

1919-1920

?

1920-1921

M. M. Blowers, Miss K. E. Boyes, M. Bradley, A. Chambers, M. Demman, B. Norton, D. A. Robinson

1921-1922

?

1922-1923

?

1923-1924

?

1924-1925

?

1925-1926

?

1926-1927

?

1927-1928

?

1928-1929

?

1929-1930

?

1930-1931

?

1931-1932

?

1932-1933

?

1933-1934

?

1934-1935

?

1935-1936

?

1936-1937

?

1937-1938

?

1938-1939

?

1939-1940

Mary Hume (grade 8), ?

Among the other teachers of Alexander School were Miss Jessie Way (1886), Miss Margaret McBride (1880s), and Dorothy Mae Strath (1940s).

Photos & Coordinates

The third Alexander School building, constructed in 1912

The third Alexander School building, constructed in 1912 (no date) by A. J. Hatcher
Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs,
GR8461, A0233, C131-1, page 32.

Alexander School

Alexander School (June 1967)
Source: Archives of Manitoba, Architectural Survey, Alexander.

Site Coordinates (lat/long): N49.83019, W100.28871
denoted by symbol on the map above

Sources:

[Tenders - Alexander School], Brandon Weekly Sun, 25 August 1892, page 5.

Annual Reports of the Manitoba Department of Education, Manitoba Legislative Library.

“Alexander, Man”, Western Canada Fire Underwriters’ Association map, 19 August 1919, Archives of Manitoba.

“Teachers at the convention,” Brandon Sun, 15 October 1920, page 6.

“Brandon school teachers for 1959-60,” Brandon Sun, 29 August 1959, page 2.

“Appointment,” Brandon Sun, 16 December 1970, page 5.

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.

Whitehead Wanderings, 1883-1983 by Whitehead-Alexander Centennial Committee, 1983. [Manitoba Legislative Library, F5648.W53 Whi]

“Board approves principals,” Brandon Sun, 30 April 1988, page 3.

“Forty years ago,” Brandon Sun, 16 December 2010, page 13.

Biographical Dictionary of Architects in Canada, 1800-1950 by Robert G. Hill, Toronto.

We thank Malcolm Bell, Nathan Kramer, Anna Birtles, and Darryl Toews for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 7 April 2024

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