Saskatoon Gen Web Region
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I was very fortunate that on the day that these photos were taken, a former student to this school house was also there, and he related to me the following which brought the school house to life. Photo of school built in 1937. It had hardwood floors in both the upstairs classroom and in the basement which was used as a playroom (similar to modern day gymnasiums). In the basement were the coal storage room, wood storage room, boys washroom and large open area. Also in the basement was a water tap which brought water in from a nearby well. The washrooms had a holding tank, which was emptied weekly. Upstairs was a cloak room, the girls washroom and the large classroom able to seat 40 students from grades 1 through 10. The front of the classroom on the wall directly opposite of the main entrance door was a slate chalkboard that extended the length of the wall. There was a school approximately every 4 miles in the vicinity of this school. During the early 1900's family sizes were larger, quite often an immigrating family would have 9-10 children, and farm sizes were smaller usually holding only one quarter section with perhaps an additional quarter section pre-emption. Now, in the late 1900's family sizes are smaller approximately 2-1/2 children per family :-) according to the latest statistics, and farm sizes are 5 or 6 times larger as farm machinery and technology enables a farmer to till and harvest larger amounts of land. In the spring, all the schools in the vicinity of this school would gather together for a community play day. There would be relays, baseball games and the like between all the various schools. When not in class in the winter months, the kids would take turns racing along the supports for the floor joists to see who could get from one end of the playroom to the other end. In this particular schoolhouse, the joists were made of 2 x 12's and braced with 2 smaller pieces of wood in an x between each joist. This school was built in 1937, and no longer in use around the late 1960's, and has not been upgraded or renovated for approximately 20 years of disuse. In the picture, there have been some modifications made, adding windows to the photograph and renovating its appearance in the photograph. |
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