The Early School Days
After the first settlers arrived in Dalhousie it was years before any thoughts of building a school were considered. Eventually they were at a stage where they were able to look to the education of their children. The first school house was built in the central part of the community. The homes of the many families were often very far apart so many of the children had a long way to travel each day to school. Some as far as three miles one way!
Each family contributed to the building of the school providing the materials from their land and the sweat of their brow to complete the building. It was a low, rough looking building with seats around the walls. Here the boys and girls of all ages sat while the teacher tried to drill into them the 3R’s. The rod was often considered a necessary means of imparting knowledge and was often employed. Despite this, the young managed to have their fun and often out smarted the teacher with their pranks.
Teachers that came to the community received very little pay. Only the families who had children attending school contributed to his/her salary; however, the families took turns boarding the teacher during the school year as partial payment for his/her services.
A few years later as the community grew it was necessary to have two schools, one in the Dalhousie Road area and one in East Dalhousie.
The Dalhousie Road School #8 was probably started in 1864. The first teacher there was Sarah Ann Barnes or Mrs. Annie Hutchinson, as she was better known. It was built on the land at the corner of the Dalhousie Road and the Lakeview Road. It stayed there until it burnt, which I believe was some time in 1904 or 1905. In 1906 John Barkhouse deeded land for a new school to be built in its present location. It opened and held its first Christmas Concert in 1907 with 25 students in attendance.
In East Dalhousie (School #107) there is record of a school as early as 1830. In 1910 a George Demone and a Mr. E. Veinotte built the present day building. It continued to have classes until 1968.
The Lakeview School #27 held its first classes in 1905/1906 with Miss. Annie Lohnes as the teacher. It was started by the concerned parents who did not want their children to walk all the way out to the Dalhousie Road School (some three miles away) each day. This school operated until its closing in 1961, when once again the children had to walk to Dalhousie for their schooling.
School pictures from the 1800’s are very rare but if you click on the button
you will see a few classes from the 1920’s to the late 1950’s.
