St. John’s One-Room Schoolhouse in Rural Saskatchewan is a Prairie Treasure
By Mallory Cawthra
St. John’s One-Room Schoolhouse is known by a few other names, including St. John’s Parochial, St. John’s Separate School, and St. John’s Separate School and Miniature Church. The sign out front of the school, which says “St. John’s PSSD, S.D. 9, 1918-1965” stands for St. John’s Protestant Separate School Division #9. Located on the West side of Highway 21, about 15 kilometre’s South of the Town of Leader in the R.M. of Happyland No. 231, this municipal historical site is a must-see.
The property was officially recognized as a historical site in 1993 and contains the original one-room schoolhouse, a miniature replica of St. John’s Lutheran church and a separate residence. The original church was built in 1911, the congregation was incorporated in 1918, and joined the Missouri Synod in 1921. The plaque by the front door of the schoolhouse (erected in 1996 by Leader & District Tourism) explains that the parochial school was built in 1924, with a student count of 38.
The plague also notes that it was the only parochial school in the Missouri Synod of the Lutheran Church in Saskatchewan. The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod is a traditional and confessional Lutheran denomination, started in the 1840’s in the United States by German immigrants. The word synod in this context means “walking together.” (Wikipedia).
In 1942, St. John’s parochial became a separate school and due to low enrollment numbers, the school eventually closed in 1965. The plaque reveals that it was the last of the one-room schools in the district. Canada’s Historic Places website explains that the heritage value of the site is threefold: its association with the establishment of separate and parochial schools in rural Saskatchewan, the miniature church which is an exact replica of the St. John’s Lutheran Church that used to occupy the site, and the architecture, which is representative of the rural one and two-room schools that were built during the earlier quarter of the 20th Century.
The Plaque mentions that St. John’s Church and school was a major focal point for the district members and their families, and they formed the Happyland concert band, a baseball team and an active youth group.
When the weather warms up, visitors can view the inside of St. John’s One-Room Schoolhouse by opening the latch on the front door, which contains wooden desks, chalkboards and photographs, as well as the miniature replica church, complete with pews, a pulpit, original church books and cemetery records (the cemetery is nearby). The Town of Leader Tourism Booth opens starting in mid-May for further inquiries.
Click for larger images
