Historic Sites of Manitoba: Snowflake School No. 283 / Snowflake Monument (Municipality of Pembina)

Link to:
Photos & Coordinates | Sources

Erected for Manitoba’s centenary in 1970, a monument east of Snowflake in the Municipality of Pembina commemorates early settlers to this area, who named it Snowflake and established a town called Hamilton on the Missouri Trail northwest of here. It also commemorates the area’s first Methodist Church (which operated nearby from 1881 to 1906), and an Orange Hall which, in 1884, was situated in the northeast quarter of 16-1-9W, southwest of this location, and Snowflake School No. 283.

The Snowflake School District No. 283 was established formally in 1884 and a one-room school located at this site, SW22-1-9 West, on land owned by Samuel Handford within the Municipality of Pembina. In March 1910, it merged with Prairie City School No. 1111 to form Snowflake Consolidated School No. 1111. Classes continued here until transferring to the consolidated school for the autumn of that year.

Among the teachers of Snowflake School were Thomas C. Wilson (Spring 1885 - Fall 1886, Spring 1906 - Spring 1907), W. A. Greenway (Spring-Fall 1887), A. S. Cormack (pt Spring 1888) J. M. Stewart (pt Spring 1888 - Fall 1889), H. E. Rogers (Spring-Fall 1890), George W. Arnott (Spring 1891 - pt Spring 1893), G. Slater (pt Spring 1893), Leonard Wilson (Fall 1893), Kate Lucy (Spring-Fall 1894), W. R. Sparling (Spring - pt Fall 1895), J. H. Svady? (pt Fall 1895), William James Harrington (Spring 1896), W. C. Stirling (Fall 1896 - Spring 1897), M. J. McGuire? (Fall 1897), Francis Henry “Frank” Belton (Spring-Fall 1898), J. G. Dunlop (Spring-Fall 1899), David Porteous (Spring-Fall 1900), Margaret King (Spring-Fall 1901), records not available (Spring 1902 - Fall 1904), Helen Lucy (Spring 1905), Ansel? G. Haskins (Fall 1905), Helen M. L. Hicks (Fall 1907), Mary E. Knight (Spring 1908 - Fall 1909), Marguerite P. V. Hicks (Spring-Fall 1910), and Archena M. Connor [Conner?] (Spring 1911).

Snowflake commemorative monument

Snowflake commemorative monument (April 2011)
Source: Gordon Goldsborough

Site Coordinates (lat/long): N49.04516, W98.60407
denoted by symbol on the map above

Sources:

Board of Education registers (A 0050), GR7643, Archives of Manitoba.

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

Board of Education meeting minutes and office files (A 0052), GR1622, Archives of Manitoba.

Echoes of the Past: A History of the Rural Municipality of Louise and its People by Mrs. Clifford Gosnell (editor), [1968] pages 486-488.

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.

This page was prepared by Nathan Kramer and Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 2 January 2024

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 | Other

Inclusion 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.

Search Tips | Suggest an Historic Site | FAQ

Help us keep history alive!