PLAXTONVILLE SCHOOL DISTRICT No.1790
- Plaxtonville School was built in 1908 as one of the schools of pioneer
- days. It was situated about sixteen miles northeast of Wainwright on two
- acres of land donated by Mr. Frank Plaxton, on the SE ¼ 16-46-5 W4.
- Mr. E. Monaghan, a local resident, named the school as a tribute to three
- brothers, Aaron, George and Charles Plaxton and their sons, Stuart,
- William, Alex, Bud and Kirk who had taken up homesteads in the area.
- Aaron’s three daughters, Rose, Mahree and Audrey as well as granddaughter,
- Erma were pupils in the first school year of 1908-1909. Descendants of
- Stuart, William and Mahree children and grandchildren followed. Children
- of Stuart Plaxton who attended Plaxtonville were Marvin, Melba, Helen,
- Ione and Elwood, William’s children were namely, Clarence, Thelma,
- Edward, Lulu, Earl and Eileen.
- A school was built in 1909 and a teacherage in 1924. I, Ione (Plaxton)
- Heatherington, began Grade one at Plaxtonville in 1921, I believe. The
- school at that time was white and rectangular in shape with three
- windows on the south (left) side and two on the east or front. It was
- equipped with three blackboards, a small library, lots of hooks for coats
- and shelves for lunch pails. The desks were single or double. I recall
- having to sit in a double desk between two small French speaking boys. My
- task was to teach them English. We were fortunate in having a large
- furnace-like stove at the back of the room to warm our cold hands and
- feet when we arrived in the morning. Our luxury items were, no doubt, the
- organ and telephone. I remember, one of our favorite teachers playing the
- organ at noon hours so we girls in particular, could amuse ourselves trying
- out the new dance steps.
- Some of the family names during my stay at the school (1921-1929) were
- Wilhelm, Olson, Monaghan, Goddard, McWhirter, Plaxton, Teeter, Babb,
- Bisson, Beazley, O’Reilly, and LaFrance.
- Teachers changed quite frequently in the earlier years but seemed to stay
- longer towards the end of my sojourn there. Some of the names I recall
- were Miss E. Hernden, Mr. Hilliker, Mr. Peterson, Mrs. Strang and the last of
- my teachers, Mrs. Robinson. Others were there for short periods. After I
- left for Wainwright High, in 1929, there were changes at Plaxtonville.
- Some family names changed on the school register and as well a new
- cottage type school with indoor toilets was built. The original school was
- sold to the Gilt Edge Park Association to be used as a community hall.
- However, it was not to be for long. A short time later, its demise came as
- it burned to the ground, and all that was left of a building that had served
- the community so faithfully for so long, was ashes.
- The new cottage-type Plaxtonville served the community for several more
- years until the pupils were bussed into Wainwright for their education.
- The Plaxtonville school building remains on its site today but all that can
- be seen of it as you pass by is the roof top. The original school grounds
- echo no sounds of children’s voices and the building itself is the home of
- pigeons and other wildlife creatures.
- Information for this article on Plaxtonville:
- 1. First hand information
- 2. Wainwright & District History Book “Buffalo Trails and Tales”
- 3. Further information may be found in “Buffalo Trails and Tales”
Plaxtonville School District No. 1790
Submitted by Ione M. (Plaxton) Hetherington B.Ed.
72-73