Amethyst School

In the pioneer days it was government policy in Alberta to have a school within walking distance of every child. There are school markers all over Alberta marking where one room schools once stood. Not all of them are marked and some of them are weirdly remote. I have photos of over one hundred eighty markers just to keep track of the ones I have run across. This one is unique for a couple of reasons. It is oddly remote and the school only lasted for one year. I was surprised someone put up a marker in this out of the way place.

The only information I could find on it is that it opened on February 24, 1917 and the first and only teacher was a Miss Thursfield, later Mrs. Frank Hill.

The latitude/longitude, if my notes are correct, should be: 50.533416, -112.409887

There is no road here, just a trail you can drive on. The nearest town via a straight line was over fifteen miles away back in 1917.

The sign was spotted off in the distance.

There are no ranches or farms here nor any remains of any farming operations. So a bit of a mystery as to where the children came from to attend the school.

I found a piece of brick by the sign. People went to the trouble and expense of hauling the material out here over one hundred years ago and building a school that had some brickwork, which had to cost a bit of money, that was only used as a school for a year. I would love to know what happened to it. There are literally no people around this spot for miles.