Description of Historic Place

Merid School is a Municipal Heritage Property located on a .45 hectare lot within the Rural Municipality of Milton No. 292. The site features a one-room wood-frame school constructed in 1912 and a stone cairn constructed in 1980.

Heritage Value

The heritage value of Merid School lies in its historical association with the community. In 1912, the newly incorporated Merid School District No. 476 constructed a wood-frame schoolhouse in the burgeoning Hamlet of Merid. For the next forty years, a public school operated in this simple one-room building serving the children of Merid and the surrounding area. The schoolhouse also became a gathering place where suppers, dances and other social events were hosted. While the school closed in 1953, the schoolhouse continued to serve as a community centre and became home to the Merid branch of the Saskatchewan Homemakers’ Club in 1960. The club added a small kitchen and had the building electrified, ensuring its continued use as a community centre until the late 1980s. For several years, the schoolhouse has been the only remaining building in the former Hamlet of Merid. A cairn and flagpole were added to the site in 1980 to commemorate both Merid and the school.

Source:

Rural Municipality of Milton No. 292 Bylaw No. 3/89.

Character-Defining Elements

The heritage value of Merid School resides in the following character-defining elements:
-those elements that speak to Merid School’s use as a schoolhouse or as a community centre, such as the large room used for classes and other gatherings;
-the simple form and massing of this wood-frame building;
-the elements that embody the schoolhouse’s status as a landmark in the community, such as its location on its original site and the cairn.