Description of Historic Place

Crystal Hill School is a Municipal Heritage Property located in the Rural Municipality of Elmsthorpe No. 100, approximately 20 kilometres southwest of the Town of Avonlea. The property features a one-room, wood-frame schoolhouse built in 1930.

Heritage Value

The heritage value of Crystal Hill School lies in its architecture. The building is an example of Waterman-Waterbury schoolhouse design, as illustrated by its square shape, hip roof, central entrance, and large bank of windows on one side of the building. The Waterman-Waterbury Company was a school design and supply company whose one-room school plans were popular in Saskatchewan during the second and third decades of the twentieth century. A majority of the one-room schools built in Saskatchewan between 1912 and the mid-1920s were constructed according to plans supplied by this Minneapolis-based company.

The heritage value of Crystal Hill School also rests in its status in the surrounding rural district as an educational facility and community gathering place. Constructed in 1930, this building replaced the original 1912 school that had become too small for the steadily increasing enrollment. This heritage property served as a school until 1954, when it was closed and local children were bussed to nearby towns. In the late 1950s, local residents purchased Crystal Hill School for use as a community hall and for church services. Still located on its original site, Crystal Hill School serves as a landmark in the community.

Source:

Rural Municipality of Elmsthorpe No. 100 Bylaw No. 185.

Character-Defining Elements

The heritage value of Crystal Hill School resides in the following character-defining elements:
-those elements characteristic of the Waterman-Waterbury one-room school plan, including the hip roof, central front entrance, and large bank of windows on the west side of the building;
-those features that reflect the property’s use as a school, including the flagpole and blackboards;
-the location of the building on its original site.