DEER PARK

DEER PARK

In 1907, a one-room log school was built in this settlement on the east side of the Lower Arrow Lake north of Castlegar with 10 pupils attending classes. In 1912, Mennonite settlers moved into the area farms and built a new school which had a steeple bell. This building was demolished when B.C. Hydro bought out properties along Arrow Lakes for construction of the Hugh Keenleyside Dam.
The steeple bell was saved and it is now housed at Robson Elementary.

In 1952, a modern school was constructed and the 1912 school was converted to a community hall. This school was sold to a private individual and moved to a different locale in preparation for the construction of the dam.

A black and white photograph from 1935 depicting the rural setting of Deer Park School. A large sheep with a thick fleece stands prominently in the foreground with a man riding it, both surrounded by a wooden fence. Behind them, the small, one-room schoolhouse is visible, distinguishable by its white siding and bell tower. The school is situated in a pastoral landscape with sparse trees, rough terrain, and a simple picket fence, indicative of the agricultural community it served during that era.

Deer Park School, 1935