Abandoned School in Northern Ontario with a Milk Crate Library

The roots of education in this small Northern Ontario community date back to 1895 when early settlers constructed a small log school house.

At this time, the small school had 60 students with only one teacher.  In 1925 it was decided to add a second teacher and split the school into two classes separated by only a curtain.

One year later, the small log school had been renovated and expanded into a new two-room school, which incorporated parts of the original structure.

This newly renovated school had two entirely separate classrooms, as well as a large basement containing the teachers’ room and boys’ and girls’ play rooms for the students

This small school operated for 40 years until the school had once again become too small for the student population.  The school was again renovated to add a third classroom in the basement, taking the place of the old boys’ play area. 

In 1966 this school had been built and included an attached gymnasium, the new school was also able to function as a community space.

Within just a few years after a wave of school closures and school board amalgamations that began to take place, students from a number of area schools were bused to this school, this caused overcrowding issues, and the gymnasium had to double as a classroom. 

The student population grew again in 1969 so an expansion to the new building took place. This expansion included two new classrooms, lunch and storage rooms, a principal’s office, and a library. The lunch room was quickly converted into a kindergarten space, and the storage room became a special education room

By the mid 1980’s the school population reached its historic height of over 180 students, but enrollment was beginning to decline. 

The school was expanded one last time, to include a new library and principal’s office, purpose-built special education room, and a staff room. 

By the school’s 100th anniversary in 1995, the population had decreased dramatically, with some areas of the building left in disuse and by 1999 the school had finally closed. 

The school seemed to be used as an art school/gallery and/or community centre for some time but as you can see from the photos, the building is in terrible shape and has been left abandoned once again