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CASTLEGAR ELEMENTARY

A vintage black and white photograph depicting the exterior of Castlegar Primary School, featuring its distinct pitched roof and the multiple entrance steps. The building is set against a backdrop of sparse trees and a lightly forested hill, evoking the rugged charm of historical school architecture in a natural landscape.

In 1908, a few residents of the community that would become Castlegar formed a committee, bought lumber and built a one-room school on the property where Eremenko building presently stands. In 1923, a two-room school house was constructed on the property now housing the Courthouse and the School District No. 20 maintenance shop and bus […]

BROOKLYN

Brooklyn was a town constructed in the late 1890’s to serve the CPR railway being constructed from Castlegar to the Boundary region. It was situated on the west side of Lower Arrow Lake, 18 miles north of West Robson, directly across the lake from Deer Park. The school was built in 1898 and opened on […]

BRILLIANT SCHOOL NO. 4 & 5

A stylized image with a halftone dot pattern effect of Brilliant School No. 4, showing the school's distinct architectural features against a light backdrop, reminiscent of a historical newspaper print or a screen-printed photograph.

This was the one room school with a teacherage was located in Ootischenia. It burned down in 1930. An old abandoned cobbler shop was then put into use as a school. This school was once called the “Chebararnia School”. Chebararnia is the Russian word for leather or harness shop. About 40 students were enrolled from […]

BRILLIANT SCHOOL NO. 1

A black and white photo of Brilliant School No. 1, showing a gabled, two-story building with a covered front porch, typical of the rural school architecture from an earlier period, with a backdrop of a high earthen cliff that underscores the natural and somewhat isolated setting of the school.

Brilliant School No. 1 was determined to be the main school in the Brilliant area. It was built in 1910 on the Brilliant flats below what is now the tomb of Peter Lordly Verigin. It was a one-room school enrolling students in grades 1 to 8 with a teacherage attached. The teacherage was furnished simply […]

BLUEBERRY CREEK ELEMENTARY

A black and white photo showing Blueberry Creek School, a single-story building of the late 20th-century design, secured behind a chain-link fence and set against the natural backdrop of a mountainous landscape, capturing the essence of a school located in a rural or suburban setting.

The first school in the community of Blueberry Creek was built in 1916. It was a wood frame building, housing students from grades 1 to 8. From 1917 to 1923 the school was in full operation. During the next 10 years the school operated only when the enrollment was sufficient to warrant the hiring of […]

NINE MILE CREEK

A grainy black and white historical photograph of Nine Mile Creek School (1st school), featuring a horse in the foreground with the old, wooden school building and its distinctive windows in the background, surrounded by a rustic wooden fence, reflecting the rural character of early 20th-century educational environments.

There were two schools built in the Pend d’Oreille valley. The first one was of log construction, built in 1913 by Art Buckley’s dad Hugh and Mr. Churches, with the assistance of neighbours. This school was situated on Churches’ property on the lower side of the road. Art Buckley stated in his interview that his […]

MONTROSE ELEMENTARY

A vintage color photograph of Montrose Elementary, capturing the mid-20th-century architectural style of a single-story school building set against a backdrop of lush trees and distant hills, highlighting the rural educational environment of the time.

Until the Montrose Elementary School opened in 1952, pupils went by bus to the L J Morrish Elementary in Trail. Built on land donated by Len Simmons, the school opened three classrooms in January, 1952, with twenty-one pupils in grade 1 to 3 and twenty-two pupils in grades 4 to 6. Mr. S. (Buzz) Nutini […]

WANETA

Waneta School

The earliest school in our area was the Waneta School, a 22′ by 34′ frame construction building on a one-acre lot, situated directly across the road from the Pend d’Oreille Cemetery [information obtained from Art Buckley interview]. It opened in September 1893 and was in operation (according to public school records in Victoria) until June […]

PARK SIDING

A historical black and white photo of the Park Siding School, showing its classic one-room schoolhouse design with a bell tower, surrounded by a natural forest landscape. The image captures a serene educational setting from a bygone era.

The first one was built on John Potter Bell’s property. The 16′ by 18′ log school was built by John P. Bell and an older gentleman in his employ, in the fall of 1912. Mr. A.S. Ellis had the five Bell children and two McIntosh boys as his first pupils when the school opened. Miss […]

MEADOW SPUR

“Clara Graham, who was the daughter of Samuel Barkley, moved with her family from Trail, crossing the Columbia River in a small rowboat and staying overnight at Bauer’s stopping place at Sayward [now Columbia Gardens], the station on the Nelson & Fort Sheppard branch of the Great Northern Railway nearest to Trail, and arriving the […]

Do you have historical materials from School District No. 20, and former school districts No. 9 (Castlegar) & 11 (Trail)?
If so, please contact us HERE

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