Description of Historic Place

The 150 Mile Little Red Schoolhouse is a single-storey wood-frame building located on the northwest corner of the 150 Mile House Elementary School property overlooking Highway 97 in 150 Mile House, British Columbia.

Heritage Value

The 150 Mile Little Red Schoolhouse is valued as the oldest functional school building in School District #27 (Cariboo-Chilcotin). It was constructed in the fall and winter of 1895-1896 beside the original Cariboo Wagon Road, when 150 Mile House was the thriving hub of commerce, transportation and governance for the large Cariboo-Chilcotin region of British Columbia. The building is one of only seven historic buildings remaining in the once-important 150 Mile House townsite.

The 150 Mile Little Red Schoolhouse is valued for its proximity to other historic buildings which were all part of the original townsite. In its early years, students attending the 150 Mile Little Red Schoolhouse stabled their horses in the nearby barn in winter. The doctor's house still stands on the other side of the road, and the courthouse is close by.

The 150 Mile Little Red Schoolhouse is valued for serving the community well for more than 60 years (1896 to 1958) as a school, meeting place, and social centre. Originally it was the proud centrepiece of the first Williams Lake School District, providing access to education for children from the 150 Mile House community and surrounding farms and ranches. This important function has been recognized by School District #27, which designated it as an official School District heritage building in 1987. The schoolhouse was used as a private residence from 1960 to 1978. From 1980 to the present it has served as an historic display building and heritage classroom.

The architecture of the 150 Mile Little Red Schoolhouse is valued as a typical example of a late Victorian one-room schoolhouse, complete with its original porch, entranceway, cloakroom foyer, and a large, high-ceilinged teaching area. One of only a very few one-room schoolhouses remaining in the province, its utilitarian form, simple construction, and functional nature are representative of British Columbia's early one-room schoolhouses. Following the usual practice, the 150 Mile Little Red Schoolhouse was constructed by local builders using local lumber and local funding.

Prominently located beside a section of the former Cariboo Wagon Road (now Highway 97) that opened the region to European settlement, the 150 Mile Little Red Schoolhouse is now valued as a display centre housing historic educational resources, and as a landmark in the region. Local governments, tourism groups, historical societies, educators, authors and others often use its iconic image as a symbol to represent the vibrant history of the area.

Source: Cariboo Regional District Planning Department

Character-Defining Elements

The character-defining elements of the 150 Mile Little Red Schoolhouse include its:

- exterior features such as the original horizontal clapboard siding, original large windows, original porch, cedar-shake gable roof, spire at the peak of the roof, and the red-and-beige colour scheme
- single-room architectural form, footprint and floorplan
- interior features including original tongue-and-groove woodwork on the walls, high ceiling, entranceway, cloakroom foyer and original wood heater, and two original double desks
- oiled fir floor complete with ink stains
- historic resources displayed in the building, including desks, books, maps, antique furniture, display case, toys, lamps, pictures, teaching aids, etc., that are representative of the late Victorian period
- orientation to other nearby historic buildings