Historic Sites of Manitoba: Riverbank School No. 384 (Municipality of Grassland)

This is the original site of Riverbank School, established in 1886 on NE34-6-19W in what is now the Municipality of Grassland. The one-acre site was purchased by the district for five dollars. Classes commenced in the one-room wood frame building on 23 August 1886. The school served the educational needs of the district until June 1953 when it was closed to the lack of students. In 1961, portions of the district were consolidated with Nesbitt School No. 724, Carroll School No. 868, and Minto School No. 1174. As of 2006, the wood frame building was sitting vacant at its former site but, sometime before August 2010, it burned to the ground. Only its concrete foundation, a few charred floor boards, and the bricks from its chimney remain there now. A monument was dedicated in July 1992 to the pioneers, trustees, parents, teachers, and students of Riverbank School.

Among the teachers of Riverbank School was Clara Beatrice McQuarrie (1933-1937).

Riverbank School (no date) Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs, GR8461, A0233, C131-1, page 36. The former Riverbank School building (circa 1986) Source: Historic Resources Branch, Public School Buildings Inventory, slide 1485. The former Riverbank School building (no date) Source: Doug Brown The foundation of the former Riverbank School building (August 2012) Source: Gordon Goldsborough Riverbank School commemorative plaque (August 2010) Source: Gordon Goldsborough Site Coordinates (lat/long): N49.53267, W99.94679 denoted by symbol on the map above

See also:

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Berbank Memorial Church (Municipality of Grassland)

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Minnewawa Cemetery (Municipality of Oakland-Wawanesa)

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.

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

We thank Doug Brown for providing a photo of Riverbank School.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 19 February 2021

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