When school first opened in 1894 in the village of Midway, the village had no school. Classes were first taught in a room over a store, then later in Palmerston Hall. This one room schoolhouse was built in 1895 and opened in time for for the 1896/1897 school term. By 1900 the school was teaching 64 students.
When a second, two room, school was opened in in 1915, this building was thereafter used as a community hall, hosting card parties, meetings, teas and other events. During the latter part of World War II some Japanese Canadians were interred in Midway and the school was temporarily reopened as a school for their children. Following the war, the Takeda family moved in to the old schoolhouse, actually saving it from falling into disrepair.
Today the building remains standing, we believe, in its original location. It has been preserved in the hopes of its becoming a heritage site. The next oldest remaining schoolhouse in the Boundary Country, to our knowledge, is at least 17 years newer than this building.
Old School House
This is the
oldest school house in Boundary Country. There are no tours at this time. The building may be moved to the museum grounds in the future.
From Boundary BC.
Following is a bit of the history of Midway and its first schoolhouse.
A Short History of Midway
By Mrs. Alice Evans
The town of Midway was platted and lots put up for sale in 1893, The Midway Townsite Company, which had a capital of $60,000, acquired extra land up to a total of 1,300 acres. The “Oldtimer” says that lots sold for $100 each. An amusing advertisement in the Midway Advance begs people not to tie their horses to the survey pegs, as they were being pulled up and lost.
The new town was called Boundary City, as late as 1894, The first post office, which opened on January 1, 1894, with T. McAuley as postmaster, was called Boundary Creek. Correspondence shows that the first school, opened in 1894, was called Boundary Creek School. The name of the post office was changed to Midway in November, 1894, Possibly it was so named because it is halfway between the Rockies and the ocean.
The first school classes were held in 1894, in a hall over the store, with Mrs, Ida McDonald as teacher, Before Christmas the pupils were housed in more comfortable quarters in Palmerston Hall. By the time Miss Alice Lewis took over in 1895, classes were in the frame school next to the museum. In 1896, Miss Lewis left to open a school in Greenwood, and was replaced by Miss Kate McKenzie. Mr. A.A. McPhail, who taught the Midway school in 1900, is said to have had 64 pupils! It is said that some high school subjects were taught there.
The second school on the flats opened in 1915, Ann Thomet (Taylor) remembers that each child carried his own belongings over the flats to the new school, but Nora Jackson (Eveleth) had a pony trap to help move larger items. In later years, the furnace room of this school was used as a classroom for grades seven and eight.
The first school was used as a hall, where card parties, meetings and teas were held, until it was reopened as a school for Japanese children during World War II.
From the 9th report of the Boundary Historical Society., Page 62