Nepean Township
Nepean Museum
August 19, 2011 I reprised my role of "Miss Chamberlain" for the Children's Museum at the Nepean Museum. My pupils, ranging in age from 2 to 10, were adorable. They had fun dressing up, singing "God Save the Queen", writing on slates, practising their names using ink pens, making paper dolls and thomatropes, and playing hop scotch and skipping outside.
S.S. No. 1 Nepean - Rideauville School
Corner of Bank St. & Hopewell
S.S. No. 1 Nepean, 1886 Courtesy of the Nepean Museum
The first log schoolhouse in S.S. 1 Nepean was built between 1840 and 1843. The original school was built on what is now the Experimental Farm. S.S. No. 1 became part of the city of Ottawa in 1907. Rideauville School, a brick school, was built in 1872 at the corner of Bank and Hopewell, on the site of Hopewell Avenue School.
S.S. No. 2 Nepean - Thomson's School
The frame schoolhouse was built at Thomson’s in 1851. In 1866 it was replaced by a brick building with two privies. Another school was built in 1923 on Piccadilly Avenue.
S.S. No. 3 Nepean - Mosgrove School
South side of Richmond Rd between Lovitt Rd & Highfield Cres
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William Bell gave land for a log school in 1832. In 1887, it was converted into a stone building and named after Judge William Mosgrove who lived nearby. The picture, courtesy of the Nepean Museum, is from the 1890s. The school closed in 1922 and has now been converted into a 3 bedroom town home across from Bayshore Shopping Centre.
S.S. No. 4 Nepean - Bells Corners School
The 1863 Walling map of Nepean indicates a schoolhouse was located across the street from the Anglican Church graveyard in Bells Corners. Records show it was torn down in 1959.
The Roman Catholic Separate School of S.S. No. 4 Nepean built Our Lady of Peace School on the site. The last teacher to teach in R.C.S.S. No. 4 Nepean was Sandy Schappert.
The Roman Catholic Separate School of S.S. No. 4 Nepean built Our Lady of Peace School on the site. The last teacher to teach in R.C.S.S. No. 4 Nepean was Sandy Schappert.
S.S. No. 5 Nepean - Crystal Bay School
Formerly on Rifle Road, just north of Carling Avenue
S.S. No. 6 Nepean
There was a schoolhouse in 1837 at Eagleson's Corners in the poor Kilkenny community. IN the 1850s, it was united with Bell's Corners for four years. It was destroyed in the fire of 1870 and rebuilt in 1872. This picture, courtesy of the Nepean Museum, was taken in 1913.
S.S. No. 7 Nepean - Fallowfield Public School
Fallowfield Rd & Richmond Rd
The first school in Fallowfield was built in 1867. It closed in 1961.
R.C.S.S. No. 7 Nepean - Fallowfield Separate School Steeple Hill Cres, across from St. Patrick Church
The second separate school in the township was formed in 1867 at Fallowfield.
S.S. No. 8 Nepean - Twin Elm School
3570 Twin Elm Rd., Richmond
A log school existed on this site from 1851, replaced by the current building in 1912. Isaac Pratt, Hattie Seabrook and Pearl Mann all taught there before it closed as a school in 1961, after which students were bused to Bells Corners to have kindergarten, French and gym classes. The building is now owned by AF Pollution Abatement Systems, Inc.
School Bell
Winnifred Armour, a former teacher at S.S. No. 8 Nepean, donated this hand bell, circa 1912, to the Nepean Museum. The bell is made of brass and has a walnut handle, with its clapper cleverly rigged from a nut and a piece of wire.
S.S. No. 9 Nepean - McCullough School
Greenbank Road
The log school was built in 1844 and was replaced less than 10 years later. The last log school in the township was built on the McCullough farm in 1854. It was later replaced by a frame building in 1877. A new school was built in 1957, but closed in 1965 because it did not offer French, music and didn’t have a gym.
S.S. No. 10 Nepean - Jockvale School
3131 Jockvale Rd., Nepean
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The Jockvale Heritage School was originally a log structure in 1841. The picture on the right, courtesy of the Nepean Museum, is taken from 1889. It became a brick building in 1906 (picture on the left). At times there were 60-70 pupils in eight grades. All teachers were male until 1857 when the first female was hired. Even though this was not a separate school, most students were Irish Roman Catholic. S.S. No. 10 Nepean was closed in 1965 as it lacked an auditorium, and instruction in French and music. Currently, the Lions Club uses the upstairs while the South Nepean Muslim Community uses the downstairs. Reports from custodial staff indicate the building is haunted.
“Our Country Canada Notre Pays 1900-2000”
In 2000, Grade 2 students from St. Elizabeth Ann Seton School performed in the musical “Our Country Canada Notre Pays 1900-2000” written and directed by their teacher, Joy Forbes. This schoolhouse was used for publicity photos.
S.S. No. 11 Nepean - Greenbank Public School
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The picture on the right, courtesy of the Nepean Museum, was taken in the early 1890s. Some of the oldest families in Greenbank attended this school - Craigs, Henrys, Stapledons, Lenehans, Stinsons, Verneys, Leslies and Knoxes. An old pot-bellies stove stood in the centre of the romm and students had to trek to the woodshed for fuel. Some of the teachers were 'used up' by the students, including Miss Davis and Miss Boucher. Miss Elizabeth Bradley (Scharfe), the most beloved of all, was a deeply religious teacher. To keep her students on the straight and narrow, she would say to them: "Be sure your sins will find you out".
S.S. No. 12 Nepean - City View or Scott School
This school was built in 1886. This picture, circa 1920, is courtesy of the Nepean Museum.
S.S. No. 13 Nepean - Merivale Public School
63 Slack Rd., Nepean
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S.S. No. 13 Nepean is better known as Merivale Public School. It has been in existence since 1845 and succeeded two earlier log schools. In 1859, settlers were so glad John Boyce was a good teacher that they organized a "bee" and erected a log home for him near the school. The desks, like most desks of the time were built along the walls and the pupils sat with their backs to the centre of the room. The seats were crude; they were made of basswood-logs split in two. In the end of each split half-log, two augur holes had been bored, and into them were inserted legs of hardwood. About 1885, the building above preceded the ‘Stone School’ and burned down. The teacher was Ned Honeywell, son of Robert Honeywell. The school closed in 1955 and became an Orange Hall. It is now a meeting place for the Buddhist Society.
S.S. No. 14 Nepean - Harboard School
927 Prince of Wales Highway
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This school still stands at the intersection of Dynes Rd and Prince of Wales Drive (picture from 1999). It has two doorways on either side of the central façade. According to “St. Mark’s Anglican Church Memories: The First Fifty Years 1949-1999”, this small red bricked building became a place for Sunday School beginning in 1947. There were six teachers and 25 children who came from all Christian faiths. It was later converted to a farm residence occupied by Mr. And Mrs. Herman Brown.
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R.C.S.S. No. 16 Nepean - l’école St. Louis
L’école St. Louis n’existe plus maintenant. L’édifice fût transformé en résidence pour personnes âgées au 1435 rue Larose, sous la gérance de Andy Andras. Cependant l’école St. Louis revêt une importance particulière dans dévelopement de la paroise St. Bonaventure où de très nombreux paroissiens y ont étudié et grandi. Monseigneur Routhier a bénit l’école le 8 juin 1918. Dès la deuxième année, la population a agumentée et ils ont dû ajouter un deuxième étage divisé en quatre salles. La première enseignante était Mlle Desjardins. Elle a enseigné 70 élèves avec un salaire de 500.00$ par année. À partir de 1938, ils ont loué des salles dans l’église St. Bonaventure. L’école fût démolie en 1945 et remplacée par la nouvelle école St. Bonaventure sur la rue Coldry.
