Jonesville School – 1913-1960
Just outside of a little town, in a small Canadian prairie province, on a dirt road, there lies a building. Not just any building, but a school. Where many minds learned many tricks, tricks they would someday use when they grew up to be farmers, ranchers, business owners and oil tycoons, among many other things.
This school is called Jonesville, and it has long been shut down, as are all small, one-room school houses in Saskatchewan. This school is special, because it is one of very few that are still standing. It’s beautiful preservation shows that it is very loved, by a community of people who care a great deal about their history. This community is called Beechy.
This school is special to me in particular, because it is located directly between the farm where I grew up, and the farm where my grandfather grew up, and it happens to be the school which my grandfather attended, until grade 10, when he left to work instead of study, like many men did in that era.
Inside the school are desks, books, chalkboards and a piano, among many other objects that are there to make it seem like a still living schoolhouse, rampant with children running and yelling and teachers scolding.
This school is exactly the kind of building that Saskatchewan is unique for. If you want a glimpse into the not-so-distant past, a past where farmers were on the rise and life in the prairies was booming, then look no further than any old building that’s still standing in Saskatchewan, and you’ll find what you’re looking for.
