Historic Sites of Manitoba: Meadows School No. 1365 (Meadows, RM of Woodlands)

The Meadows School District was established formally in April 1906 in the Rural Municipality of Woodlands. The first schoolhouse, measuring 20 feet by 30 feet, was built in 1906, one mile west of the village of Meadows. Classes ranged from 5 to 13 students. The first teacher, Mr. McDougall, was discharged when trustees discovered that he had no teaching permit and was therefore not qualified to teach.

In 1933, a new school building measuring 24 feet by 40 feet was built in Meadows, making it more accessible by students from all directions. It featured a full basement with furnace, a play area, and indoor washrooms. Classes started there in 1934. The first teacher was Lucille Kemp who had been in the old school for five years and continued in the new school for eight more years.

The school closed in 1958 and, in 1967, the building was moved to Warren where it was used as an extra classroom at the Warren Elementary School. Henceforth, students from Meadows School catchment area were bussed to Rosser, Grosse Isle, or Warren for grades 1-3, 4-8, and high school. Eventually, the former Meadows building was moved to a site near Warren (about N50.11018, W97.55740) and used as a workshop.

Among the teachers of Meadows School were Mr. McDougall (1906-1907), Mr. W. Sherman, Miss Springstein, Miss Parker, Miss Lange, Miss Thornstein, Miss Barker (Mrs. Oatway), Miss Cross, Miss Briggs (Mrs. P. Beachell), Miss E. Wood (Mrs. Longmoor), Miss McIntyre (Mrs. Barker), Miss Morris (Mrs. Lanthier), Miss Ward (Mrs. Lampshire), Miss Ritter, Miss B. Wood (Mrs. W. Tully), Miss Jordan (Mrs. Gislason), Miss Moffat, Miss Kemp (Mrs. Grant) (1929-1942), Miss Jean McCullough, Miss Fletcher, Miss Bohick, Miss Gunn, Mr. T. Rothwell, Miss Bergen (Mrs. Etherington), Miss Weisner (Mrs. Bachler) (1954), Mr. J. Goosen, Mr. W. Schellenberg, Mrs. Falkingham, Mr. J. Daoust, Miss Martens, Mrs. Bertha Winnifred Norberg, Mr. A. Matskiw, and Mrs. E. Gefreiter.

The original Meadows School building

The original Meadows School building (no date)
Source: Helene Reimer

The second Meadows School building

The second Meadows School building (no date)
Source: Helene Reimer

The former Meadows School building, used as a workshop at N50.11018, W97.55740

The former Meadows School building, used as a workshop at N50.11018, W97.55740 (2012)
Source: Manitoba Historical Society

Site Coordinates (lat/long): N50.02838, W97.59660
denoted by symbol on the map above

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.

The First Hundred Years, 1893-1993 by the Rosser Municipality Centennial History Book Committee, page 99-100.

A Study of Public School Buildings in Manitoba by David Butterfield, Historic Resources Branch, Manitoba Department of Culture, Heritage and Tourism, 1994, 230 pages.

Obituary [Bertha Winnifred Norberg], Winnipeg Free Press, 19 August 2017.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough and Helene Reimer.

Page revised: 6 March 2024

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