Tweedsmuir Thursday #9

Stewart's Glen School, ca. 1942

The quality of the above photo is poor however, the schools original
exposed logs are distinguishable. Ca. 1910

Back row: Morrison MacLeod, Llyod MacPhee, Ian Stewart,
Murdie Stewart, Norman MacLeod.
Front row: Romain Gravel, Allister Campbell, Neil Gravel, Duncan
Stewart, Homer MacLeod ca. 1934

1. Morrison MacLeod 2. John Cutt 3. Duncan Clark 4, Mary
Reid 5. Harriet MacKinnon (nee Stewart) 6. Catherine Clark
MacRae 7. Norman M. MacLeod 8. Murdie Stewart 9. Kay
MacNaughton 10. Margaret Stewart MacRae 11. Annabel
MacLeod 12. Ian Stewart 13. Lloyd MacPhee

In 1879, farmers in the area of Stewart’s Glen felt they needed a school in their section. They called a meeting and appointed a committee to approach the Kenyon Council. Shortly after, School Section #21 came into being and opened in January 1880.

Lumber was plentiful and with many good axemen, it did not take long to build the school. It was located on a half acre of land at the south-east corner of Lot 32, Concession 9, in Kenyon Township. The land was purchased from Donald K. MacRae. In 1907, the school trustees purchased another half-acre of land from Mr. MacRae which they called “The Crewson Park.” The original deed stated that if the site ever ceased to be used for school purposes, the land would revert back to the MacRae family.

At an annual meeting, it was decided to move the school two hundred feet back from the road. The teacher’s wages were roughly $150 dollars per year. The caretaker got a dollar per month and the cleaning was done by students.

The school closed in 1945 because of the small class size of 4 pupils. The students were moved to S.S. #3 and #4 until 1956 when S.S.#21 joined Kenyon Township. The school property was returned to the MacRae’s and Dan MacRae bought the school and turned it into a machine shed. He also bought the wood shed and moved it to the farm. The outdoor toilets were also sold. In 1975 when the MacRae farm was sold, the schoolhouse was sold to people from Montreal, who turned it into living quarters for the summer.