Description of Historic Place

Foster School is a Municipal Heritage Property in the Rural Municipality of Abernethy 186 located approximately 3 km north of the Village of Abernethy. The property features a one-room school constructed of fieldstone in 1896.

Heritage Value

The heritage value of Foster School lies in its status as the earliest educational facility in the district and the first central community gathering place. Built in 1896, Foster School is the only stone building in the area and is the only schoolhouse remaining on its original location in the district. The school operated for almost sixty years prior to its closing in 1954. As one of the oldest school buildings in the province, Foster School stands as a symbol of the contribution of the one-room school to the development and history of Saskatchewan.

The heritage value of the property also lies in its architecture which is typical of the vernacular one-room schoolhouses of the period, featuring one large open room and a simple symmetrical layout. The School also provides a rare surviving example of a school built using fieldstone construction, a techniques that was once commonly used for small residential and institutional buildings across Southeastern Saskatchewan.

The heritage value of the property also lies in its landscape. Foster School is situated on a small grass field which separates the property from the surrounding agricultural land. The field is the only remaing section of the historical schoolyard.

Source:

Rural Municipality of Abernethy No. 186 Bylaw 85-2.

Character-Defining Elements

The heritage value of the Foster School resides in the following character-defining elements:
-those elements that reflect the property’s use as a one-room school such as the simple vernacular style of the building, one large room, simple symmetrical layout and gable roof;
-the location of the building on its original site;
-the fieldstone construction;
-the school's positioning on a small grass field.