Lemsford SK school
An “almost” ghost town, Lemsford Saskatchewan is located in the western part of that province and is home to a little brick schoolhouse, a nice one too, that’s sadly seen better days. Long since closed as learning facility, it was later used for grain storage (as strange as that seems) but today is abandoned. It’s deteriorating badly and one wall has started to collapse. Time is ticking for this photogenic old building.
Lemsford was founded in the early 1910s, with the coming of the railway, although settlers had lived in the area before. Never growing beyond village status, the community today has a population that could be counted on one hand, two at most. There appears to be three or so houses in the town that looked lived in.
Mention is made of a school district being established here in 1912. The building we’re looking at dates from the mid-1920s however and replaced an earlier structure that burned down not long before. This author has seen a photo showing the older school which was made of brick and was two stories in height. Nothing else is known about it.
At one time a teacherage, a home, naturally, for the teacher assigned to the school, was located on the grounds. A local resident seems to think it was last used in the 1940s and torn down not long after.
A history book used in researching this post seems to suggest that the school was closed in the 1960s. It’s not said explicitly, but rather hinted at. That seems to make sense given the town by that time was on the decline. Students were later bused to a school in another town, nearby Scepter Saskatchewan, it’s believed.
It’s not exactly clear how long the school sat empty before being purchased by some local farmers, the Kost Brothers, who’s yellow sign still adorns the entryway. They converted it to a grainery and it’s believed added that lean-too addition on the north side, presumably to store farm equipment, around that time. A photo from about ten years ago shows other farm sheds and outbuildings located near the school, all of which are gone now.
To convert it to grain storage, they cut out the majority of the main floor and built two wood-cribbed boxes extending down into the basement, which held the grain. A strange way to reuse the building, indeed, but I guess it worked. When it was last used in this capacity it not know, but given the deteriorated state of the building (more on this in a moment), it must have been many, many years ago.
There were two classrooms in the school and a basement which likely housed the coal stove used to heat the building during those cold Saskatchewan winters.
The east wall of the building is collapsing. That old photo mentioned earlier shows it buckled but still mostly intact. Now there is a gaping hole. When venturing inside, we took extra precautions because of this. We did not go into the basement, given the stairs looked a little too rickety. That part of the building looked empty (and dark and scary) anyway.
The school’s interior was painted a lovely light green shade. Retro-cool. Save for the always present pigeon poop – if a building is open to the elements, as this one is, those birds will always get in – and a few old bed frames, there was not much found inside.
Outside an old underground cistern was found in the grass. It was closed up tight and was obvious and presented no real danger but occasionally when exploring old buildings we find these, or old water wells, open to the air, which could mean big trouble if one were to fall in. Always take care when out exploring especially in areas near buildings where cisterns are apt to be, and doubly so if the grass is tall and covers much resulting in dangers that could be hidden.
The school grounds were surrounded by a large hedge on three sides. The prairies stretch off in behind the building, with no other man made structures to be seen all the way to the horizon, giving this lonely middle-of-nowhere feel to the place. Washroom facilities would have included biffies located somewhere on the land. That’s how they did it in the old days, be it a nice day or a raging snow storm.
The Lemsford School was visited on our spring 2014 “grain elevators and ghosts tour” of southwest Saskatchewan. What a great time that was! We visited so many old and interesting places that almost a year later, we’re still talking about them. And there will me more from this adventure yet to come.
More articles from this same trip…
Neidpath Saskatchewan.
Saskatchewan old vehicles and equipment part 1.
St Joseph’s church Courval Saskatchewan .
Prairie Sentinels – Cadillac Saskatchewan.
If you wish more information on what you’ve seen here, by all means contact us!
Date: May, 2014.
Location: Lemsford, SK.
Article sources: Book: The Past to the Present – 70 years, 1909-1979 (Lemsford and area history guide), a town resident.
Give the dangers, it’s suggested you not visit here.
Went there back in 1956 – 1964. Good memories. Thanks so much for the pictures.
So many cool memories I bet. It’s been our pleasure to share our photos.
I went to this school. It had grades one to eight. A few years before the school went up to grade ten. I would guess the school closed sometime around 1964. The teacherage had two separate residences. It was a great old school with many stories in it’s walls.
Thanks so much for helping round out the story. We so love it when our readers chime in and add to what we’ve written. The memories? I bet!
My mom lived and grew up on a farm just outside of Lemsford. She’s told us stories of a long walk to and from school. The time her brother show up early on horseback dragging a sled to bring her home when a blizzard was approaching was my favorite.
I lived my first 12 summers on that farm, without electricity or water. There was an outhouse and a coal stove. We got water from a neighbor friend (the Shier’s) in big metal milk canisters.
I thought most of the houses in the town were old then. I guess I should not be surprised that the people and the houses are gone. We would drive to Scepter to buy groceries. I remember the butcher would always give me a raw weiner to eat. That was when a raw weiner tasted good and didn’t make me feel sick.
My mom is 97 years old, so I don’t think the school in the pictures is the same one she spoke of.
Awesome to hear from you. Life was hard back then, but it sure brought out the best in people. 97? Awesome! There was an earlier school in town too, so if not this, if could have been that one she went to. Thanks for commenting!
Simply stunning!
Thank you, it’s a picturesque subject so it gets SOME of the credit!
Had so much fun that trip!
One of the best ever!
Fantastic gallery C&C, thanks for the tour of this small building…you had a great day for shooting!
Not a bad day, heck you’re right, it was great.
What a great building to explore!
It was tiny and unassuming yet touched us in a special way. I guess ’cause we know its days are limited.
Seen so many of these working the prairies in two provinces. I always stop and try imagine what it was like and the stories that are long forgotten.
Agreed, if they could only speak.
Nice photo composition. If that wall gives out more, it’s curtains for that building.
Indeed, one good snow dunp…