Saskatchewan’s First Consolidated School is Abandoned
As I was planning a trip to photograph Saskatchewan places in July, 2016, I didn’t have plans to stop here until I found out about the former Aneroid Consolidated School. Like so many rural communities on the Great Plains of North America, Aneroid is shrinking. Young people are now going to school in nearby Ponteix, and the former consolidated school is abandoned.
Aneroid is a perfectly normal hamlet in southern Saskatchewan, about 150 kilometers southwest of Moose Jaw, or 70 kilometers southeast of Swift Current. The population was estimated at 45 in 2006. It was an incorporated village until 2008, when the village reorganized as a hamlet and came under the governance of the rural municipality–effectively, Aneroid decided not to be a town anymore.
Aneroid’s former consolidated school was my primary reason to visit, and it is impressive.
Settlers were arriving in this area by the early 1900s, many of them arriving in Swift Current by rail, then some continuing to the sparsely populated area around Aneroid by horse. The post office opened in 1911.
In 1913, a two-room wood school–the first consolidated school in Saskatchewan–was built to educate the settlers’ children, but two years later it was replaced by this brick school. Children from a fairly wide area came here to attend class every day.
The school is largely hidden these days behind a row of trees that line the perimeter of the property. Just outside that natural boundary lies the rest of Aneroid, including the Aneroid United Church.
The church was built in 1915, the same year as the brick school building across the street. Today, there is a sign hanging on the door that lists the church as for sale via Ed Wagner Ventures. I was unable to find a listing online anywhere.
What do you know about Aneroid, Saskatchewan? Please leave a comment below.
Photos by Troy Larson, content copyright © 2016 Sonic Tremor Media
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13 thoughts on “Saskatchewan’s First Consolidated School is Abandoned”
I remember playing around that school when I went to visit my grandma!
Nice to see the buildings are not tagged and vandalized. Great photos.
Aneroid is where I live. What do you want to know?
Hi there , do you ever remember a family with the last name Parkin living in Aneroid ? My Grandma is from there , and i was just curious.
Thanks Jared Mallory
I remember the Perkin family.
George and Alice Perkin. He looked after the church and he was the Bell ringer.
Just incase its a typo
I have visited aneroid several times. .always stopped at dad and uncle joe’s grave. sadly dorothea has no stone. we left about 80 years ago. the first time the mc coy’s gave my dads violin to me . they had stored it for about 30 years.
My first teaching position in 1961. Married a farmer south
of town. All three of our children attended from grades one to eight then were bussed to Kincaid . Loved that school !!
I remember as an elementary student from Kincaid coming to Compete in track and field at this school in grade 4. A bunch of schools would get together and have track and field day and Aneroid school would host! Always fun when coming here. In the early 80’s that would have been. And then in grade 9 the students would be buses to Kincaid . Good times !
My dad Alf Cuthbert was born in Aneriod in April 1919. His dad had a farm called Erinlea, they moved to Plato Sask around 1930 when farming got too bad to produce crops. I went with him back to Aneriod in 1989.
My grandparents the Eddys lived just a block away from this school. My mom and her siblings went here. I used to play at the park there all my years growing up and visiting my family!!! Grandpa was always at the legion having coffee with the boys!!! I used crutches one time and pretended my leg was broken. Word got back to my grandparents and I got in shiiiiii@&$#. Also, lots of Cactus needles in my knees when I fell down. Have a blast with my cousins shooting gofers. Well at least I watched them !! Aneroid for life!!
I really enjoy photographing that school and Aneroid in general.
Thanks for sharing this.
Della do you still live in aneroid sask?
First time here and wow. What was most shocking was the front doors looked like they were about to bust open more than once then the rest of the time, nothing. We tried to recreate it but you needed quite a bit of force. There was not much of wind at all!