Earliest picture of Ahmic Harbour School
Description
- Media Type
- Image
- Item Type
- Photographs
- Description
- The Historical Society is particularly indebted to Waitstill ‘Waity’ Croswell, Joyce Crossman, Jack Crossman, Orma Quinn, Lynn Abbot Lennox, the Wellever family. Richard Moore, Norma Hill-Watt and the late John Macfie for the photos and associated descriptions.
- Notes
- This is the earliest known picture of the new (second) Ahmic Harbour School built in 1893 by Samson Paul on the site of the original school. It was of brick construction, plastered inside, and was much larger than the first school. The furniture consisted of double seats, a teacher’s desk and a box stove. The picture may have been taken as early as 1893.
(The first school was apparently built in 1879. No picture exists of this first school. The studding and rafters were made of balsam poles and the siding of pine. The interior was also finished in plain pine boards. The teacher had a desk, but the pupils sat on high backed benches twelve feet long built like church pews. Pine boards stained black were used as a black board. The second school, built in 1893 is traditionally reported to have been built on the same site as the original school. However, in the the Guidebook and Atlas of Muskoka and Parry Sound District, 1879, the location of the school is shown as existing or being planned for the north boundary of Lot 24, Con VIII.
This location makes sense since in 1879, the ‘main road’ along the south side of Ahmic Lake from the Nippising Road to the Great North Road at Dunchurch did not enter the future village. Rather it is continued westerly to the south of the present cemetery. There was only a small spur trail into the future village and the home of Charles and Phoebe Croswell (later the John Croswell home and boarding house.) The school site in the Atlas is south of the the junction of the Ahmic Lake Road and the trail to Croswells’ home.)
Over the years a piano was added, also a well-stocked library, inside lavatories (at a later date) and modern blackboards. The property on which the school stood was not formally transferred from John Croswell to the school trustees until 1899.
- Place of Publication
- Ahmic Harbour, Ontario
- Subject(s)
- Local identifier
- 00169
- Collection
- Whitestone Historical Society Archive
- Geographic Coverage
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Ontario, Canada
Latitude: 45.66681 Longitude: -79.78297
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- Copyright Statement
- Protected by copyright: Uses other than research or private study require the permission of the rightsholder(s). Responsibility for obtaining permissions and for any use rests exclusively with the user.
- Copyright Holder
- Whitestone Historical Society
- Contact
