A look back at the founding of Fenelon Falls’ high school
Despite grumbling about the cold and snow, tests and exams, homework and public speaking, most teenagers would probably continue going to school, even if it was voluntary.
Granted, close to 200 years ago, they likely wouldn’t even have the option, especially in rural areas.
Back in the day, it was often said that it was better for a young boy to have a strong back than a strong mind. Most girls expected to spend their days doing domestic work.
While a large proportion of Upper Canada’s rural population had limited literacy, the Kawartha Lakes region was unusual due to a large number of landed gentry who typically had the benefit of education before they emigrated. Their children, however, had very limited access to educational facilities, and, if there was schooling, it was typically done by volunteers as an act of charity.
Near Fenelon Falls, the first recorded volunteer teachers were Anne Langton (arrived 1837) and her Anglican minister Rev. Thomas Fidler (arrived 1839).
By March 1840, Fidler was teaching 28 students at the Anglican Church, while Langton instructed from her home at Blythe. Attendance at both was spotty because of the need for child labour, weather, road conditions and the general absence of clocks and watches.
By 1848, Fenelon Falls had a school building, but there is no known surviving description. It was presumably a single-room log structure that only offered primary education.
However, two decades later, Fenelon Falls had become more populous and prosperous. The surrounding countryside, which had been sparsely settled at first, was slowly developing into farms. Large-scale lumber and timber exports were also becoming practical with the construction of a railway to Lindsay.
On Aug. 29, 1868, Fenelon Township council borrowed $2,000 to build a new brick schoolhouse at Fenelon Falls.
Completed in 1869, School Section #3 Fenelon was the largest school in the township, with three paid teachers, including a male staff member who had an annual salary; at one point reaching $500.
An addition was constructed in 1876, but in less than 10 years, the school was full again, leading to the construction of a second school south of the river, called the South Ward Public School. Planned by Lindsay’s William Duffus, it used stone from the canal and cost $2,500. Today it is the Masonic Lodge.
But, in the 19th century, it was virtually impossible to complete education beyond Grade 8. Some members of the local elite hired private tutors to educate their children.
The Boyd family of Bobcaygeon, for example, brought Oxfordtrained teacher Walter Comber over from England to teach their children. He later founded Bobcaygeon’s Hillcroft School.
In 1896, the province created a continuation class system, allowing students to receive secondary education from existing public schools.
Two years later, principal Byron H. Maybee began instructing continuation classes at South Ward, which later converted to solely a Continuation School providing studies up to Grade 12. For Grade 13, students had to go to Lindsay Collegiate Institute.
The school also began offering extracurricular activities such as a Christmas concert, field days and a spring picnic. Students enjoyed ball games at recess and popular winter activities included checkers and gossip.
It wasn’t just ‘reading, writing and ‘rithmatic’ either. Chemistry was taught, even though they had little in the way of apparatus; students recalled explosions projecting books across the room.
The stone school had no central heating, just box stoves on each floor. On cold days, they would huddle around the fire.
There was no indoor plumbing. The caretaker filled a water container each day, that sat on a shelf in the hall with all students using a communal cup. A frame lavatory stood behind the school.
Girls and boys were expected to walk in opposite directions around the school to maintain proper decorum. The school also had very limited facilities for public performance and convocation, so these events were held at the community hall on Bond Street, now Immanuel Baptist Church.
Recognizing the need for a better, larger facility, construction efforts began in the early 1930s and on Aug, 30, 1933, the Fenelon Falls Continuation School opened its doors. The school cost a whopping $25,290 to complete. The old stone school was sold to the Masons for $1,000 with a same price buyback option.
The new school brought with it many advances, including indoor plumbing. It had its own well, which unfortunately struck sulphur as it was drilled through the limestone rock below; the drinking fountain never lost its pungent odour.
In the late 1940s, busing offered rural students greater access to school. Others used the rail lines but were at the mercy of train schedules.
Many walked to school or rode horses that were stabled at the Brooks Hotel — until recently, George Wilson Motors — or Dick Bulmer’s blacksmith shop, currently the Fenelon Falls brewery. Some boarded in town.
One of the most memorable methods was the Burnt River Express; a van driven by the Wilkinson family with students sitting on benches in the back. Once at school, the Burnt River Express became a popular student hang out.
By the 1960s, the school was able to accommodate 600 students and, after going through a few name changes, officially became Fenelon Falls Secondary School in 1967.
GLENN WALKER IS A LOCAL HISTORIAN AND MEMBER OF THE MARYBORO LODGE MUSEUM, A COMMUNITY CULTURAL CENTRE LOCATED ON CAMERON LAKE IN FENELON FALLS. CHECK OUT WWW.MARYBORO.CA FOR MORE UNIQUE, ENTERTAINING — AND OFTEN UNKNOWN — HISTORICAL FACETS OF THE KAWARTHAS.