Historic Sites of Manitoba: West Poplar Point School No. 12 (RM of Portage la Prairie)

The West Poplar Point School District was established in April 1873, making it one of the oldest rural districts in Manitoba. A log schoolhouse was constructed near St. Anne’s Anglican Church, in what would later become the Rural Municipality of Portage la Prairie. A new school building was later located on Parish Lot 58, about two miles west of Poplar Point on the north side of Highway 26. The district was dissolved in 1967 and its land became part of the Portage la Prairie School Division. There are no remnants of the former school at the site but a commemorative plaque is located in the cemetery of St. Anne’s Anglican Church (N50.04392, W98.02364).

The teachers who worked at West Poplar Point School through the years included Miss Totten, Miss Cox, and Miss Hazel Reid (1930s).

West Poplar Point School

West Poplar Point School (no date) by A. B. Fallis
Source: Archives of Manitoba, School Inspectors Photographs,
GR8461, A0233, C131-1, page 9.

West Poplar Point School commemorative plaque in the St. Anne’s Anglican Cemetery

West Poplar Point School commemorative plaque in the St. Anne’s Anglican Cemetery (July 2019)
Source: Rose Kuzina

Site Coordinates (lat/long): N50.05233, W97.99817
denoted by symbol on the map above

See also:

Historic Sites of Manitoba: St. Anne’s Anglican Church and Cemetery (Poplar Point, RM of Portage la Prairie)

Sources:

Cummin’s Rural Directory Map for Manitoba published by the Cummins Map Company, 404 Chambers of Commerce, Winnipeg, 1923. [Copies held by Edward M. Ledohowski and Gordon Goldsborough]

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.

Rural Schools of Portage la Prairie School Division #24 by Muriel Wright, 1996.

We thank Rose Kuzina for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 2 September 2019

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