Stranraer SK school

This little school is closed, the community it’s in, a shadow of its former self. This is small town Saskatchewan in the twenty first century. The location is Stranraer, some fifty clicks from Rosetown, the nearest “big’ burg, some hundred and fifty from Saskatoon, the closest city, and about three hundred and eighty thousand from the moon. Not that it matters, no one comes here to visit anyway, it seems. Except maybe to stop a short while, as we did, to photograph the picturesque little brick schoolhouse that sits right beside the highway.

This is the Stranraer School opened in 1927, replacing an earlier, smaller facility that dated back to 1912. As the local population shrunk enrollment declined and the facility was forced to close in 1969. As goes the town, so does the school. It’s just one more disused place of learning, in a forgotten town. Kids, what few live here, are now bused to someplace else.

A mural, showing Stranraer back in its heyday, adorns some boarded over windows. Notice the grain elevators, the railway, a bustling downtown. Most of what’s seen is all gone now (the train tracks remain but are disused). We leave a little heartbroken.

The nearby church…
Stranraer Saskatchewan United Church.

Short Subjects: reports that for any number of reasons are brief in nature. They might be updates to older articles, previews of posts planned or not yet published, brief snippets of things that don’t fit in anywhere else or subjects that are so obscure that information on them can’t be found.

If you need any more information on what we talked about here, by all means contact us!

Date of adventure: June, 2015.
Location: Stranraer, SK.
This school grounds are publicly accessible.

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Stranraer Saskatchewan School

The Stranraer Saskatchewan School in use from 1927-1969.

Stranraer SK School mural

A mural depicting the town in its heyday.

Stranraer SK United Church

The Stranraer United Church nearby.

10 responses

  1. Stranraer citizen says:

    Just stumbled on your website. My family and I live proudly in Stranraer Sk. Great photos of our old school and church!

    It’s a stronger community than one would expect.

    • Invite us back and we’ll rock the place!

      • Stranraer citizen says:

        Okay anytime. We could get the community together and do a bbq!
        We would love to share the history!
        Oh ya the movie thing would be cool too!

        • Sorry for the delay in responding – was overseas for the last few weeks. Yes, I like the sounds of that! If we’re due in the area, we’ll give you a heads up.

  2. Bill Gibbons says:

    I’m originally from Stranraer, SW Scotland. It’s nice to know there is a namesake in Canada. I live in Calgary these days and getting into film making. Perhaps Stranraer, SK might have a new life as a film set? Something along ‘Stranger Things’ or the ‘X-Files’ would be to my liking. At least something to turn it into a tourist spot?

    • So nice to hear from you. Yes, we saw a Scotland connection when researching this write up. Film making? I know a few who do it and love the passion it takes – in comparison photographing and writing, so what we do, seems super easy. Maybe you’re the person who’ll have to make Stranraer SK famous?

      • Bill Gibbons says:

        Thanks for getting back. I am working with a film producer here in Calgary on a few short stories. If we can come up with a short production, something along the line of Stranger Things or an X-file type theme, then Stranraer, SK might be a place that we could put back on the map. Productions that develop a large following usually make the film locations popular places to visit. YouTube seems to be the go-to place for legions of young and not-so-young people these days, as the independent film industry is becoming a very large industry. We will work on something that we could film around Stranraer summer. Where do we get the appropriate permission for filming in the areas?

        • Getting the okay to shoot at the school would probably be a piece of cake. Inside, I think is off limits, however. Some nasty stuff in the walls I’m told. We scout and arrange for locations for TV and film productions all the time. Call on us if you need help.

  3. Connie Biggart says:

    That was one fun trip!

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