The Poplar Lake School District was formally established in June 1904 and a one-room schoolhouse built of concrete blocks at the southeast corner of SE16-16-9 West of the Principal Meridian, in what was then the Rural Municipality of Westbourne, now the Municipality of WestLake-Gladstone.
In May 1911, the district was consolidated with the Langruth School District No. 1550, with the resulting amalgamated district retaining this district’s numerical designation. Poplar Leaf School, operating as part of the Langruth Consolidated School District No. 1303, was used by all students of the consolidated district until the new and larger Langruth School, built during the spring of 1912, was opened to pupils that autumn. This Poplar Leaf building’s fate, a concrete-block structure known to be standing as of 1950, was eventually demolished. The consolidated district became part of the Pine Creek School Division in January 1968.
Among the teachers of Poplar Leaf School were Blanche Dowkes (1905, around 14 weeks), Einar Eyvindson (March-July 1906), Helga Johannson (August-December 1906), Elma R. Salmark (April-July & August-December 1907), Ruth F. Crosland (July-November 1908), and Maria Sesselja “Mary” Thorleifson (March-July & August-November 1909, March-September 1910), Asta Austmann (May-September 1911), Joseph S. Falconer (November-December 1911), Joseph S. Falconer (grades 1-6, January-March 1912), and Ethel A. Williams (grades 1-6, April-June 1912).
Poplar Leaf School (before 1912)
Source: Langruth Along the Crocus Trail, page 43.Site Coordinates (lat/long): N50.35854, W98.63818
denoted by symbol on the map above
School division and school district formation files (E 0027), Poplar Leaf School District No. 1303, GR1688, 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.
Manitoba School Records Collection, Poplar Leaf School District No. 1303 - Daily Registers, GR3152, Archives of Manitoba.
A Tribute to Soldiers and Pioneers of the Langruth District, T. W. Taylor Company Limited, pages 116-117, 1950.
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.
Langruth Along the Crocus Trail by Langruth Historical Society, c1984, pages 43, 190.
We thank Gary Hanneson for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Nathan Kramer.
Page revised: 29 January 2025
Historic Sites of Manitoba
This is a collection of historic sites in Manitoba compiled by the Manitoba Historical Society. The information is offered for historical interest only.
Browse lists of:
Museums/Archives | Buildings | Monuments | Cemeteries | Locations | OtherInclusion in this collection does not confer special status or protection. Official heritage designation may only come from municipal, provincial, or federal governments. Some sites are on private property and permission to visit must be secured from the owner.
Site information is provided by the Manitoba Historical Society as a free public service only for non-commercial purposes.
Send corrections and additions to this page
to the MHS Webmaster at webmaster@mhs.mb.ca.Help us keep history alive!
