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Readers of The ATA Magazine are asked to help with the establishment of a visual archive of the province’s early country schools. Many of these historic buildings are abandoned and deteriorating. Before time, neglect and the elements claim them completely, it is hoped that a photographic record can be compiled.
You can help
Let us know the whereabouts of these buildings. All that is required is a simple description using highway numbers referenced to a nearby village or range road and township coordinates.
Tell us what you know about the buildings (school names, current uses, original locations, if they have been moved, and their history).
If possible, provide a photograph. Photos can be on print film or electronic.
Send information to Tim Johnston, Editor, The ATA Magazine, by post, telephone or e-mail (tim.johnston@ata.ab.ca).
Willow Valley School, S.D. No. 3200
Located 6 kilometres south and 10 kilometres west of the Old Man River Bridge on Highway 22
—Photo by Dave Birrell
Ena School
Located 5 kilometres from the Judah Railway Station and 11 kilometres from the town of Peace River
Built in early 1930s (now used for grain storage)
—Photo by Anna Nord, St. Albert
Nord writes: “I taught here in 1942, January–March. In 1942, there were 40 students in Grades 1–8. I was 18 and some the Grade 8 students were 17 years old.”
Fairland School, S.D. No. 245
Closed in 1953 (moved to Penhold)
—Photo by Marjorie Baker, Penhold
Hardieville School, Lethbridge
—Photo by Rhonda Kupsch, Lethbridge
James River School
Located at the corner of highways 22 and 587
Built in 1921, closed in 1956 (used as a community centre, now vacant)
—Photo by Karen Hennig, Airdrie
Red Rose School, S.D. No. 2291
Located 12 kilometres south of Hanna
Built in 1911, closed in 1955 (renovated and now used as a community centre)
—Photo by Carol Knauft
Cassils School, Cassils Consolidated School District
Located 11 kilometres west of Brooks on Cassils Road
(currently used as community centre)
—Photo by Marion Bennett, Camrose
Bennett, who along with her husband, taught at Cassils School from 1952–54, writes: “In our day, the school consisted of two classrooms, one for Grades 1–4 and the other for Grades 5–9. These rooms were separated by a folding wooden partition, which enabled teachers to stage the annual Christmas concert and to allow for dances to be held at regular intervals throughout the winter months. Across the back of the building were two one-room teacherages, each with a small entry and a direct entrance to a classroom. Since my husband and I had two young children, we used both teacherages… A large coal furnace and a pile of coal took up most of the basement. My husband was paid a few hundred dollars more on top of this regular salary for acting as both principal and janitor.”
