Thursday, 4 October 2018

Mount Joy School District #341

The windows may be broken, and the northwest wall partially collapsed, but this stone school still retains the aura of a building once considered too fine to serve a one-room schoolhouse.


Three local farmers helped the stonemason build the school, which opened in October 1912 to serve grades one to eight. Soon the school began to be used for other community activities; Christmas concerts, Oyster dinners, picnics, meetings, dances, box socials . . . the last school year was 1959. 


I am unsure how much longer it was used as a community centre after the closing. Located in southwest Saskatchewan, visited in September, 2017. 



- Jason Paul Sailer



9 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Thanks - unfortunately, I found out it was recently demolished. A loss!

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  2. It is very handsome building... I can see why the community like it...

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    Replies
    1. It was, though it was recently demolished. A loss for the area and people like us who appreciated the value of these historic structures.

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  3. Beautiful fieldstone construction! Probably were all picked off the surrounding farmland. My father used to tell me about how they always had to pick rocks and put them on stoneboats even as late as the 1920s.

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    Replies
    1. And 1930s, for that matter. Maybe stones STILL show surface in prairie fields, for all I know.

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    2. The stones were picked off the surround fields. They probably used stoneboats to haul the stones in.

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