McCauley School

9538 107 Ave, Edmonton

This 12 room school opened in 1912. The three–storey, Tudor-Gothic style building was designed by school board architect G.E. Turner and built by contractors Pheasey and Batson for a cost of $93,800. Among the features of the building are the red pressed brick and Bedford stone mullioned façade with a crennelated roof line, decorative shield embellishments, separate entrances for boys and girls, polished granite hallway floors, leaded windows and original fireproof metal staircases. The grouped windows provided plenty of natural light, and each classroom was provided with its own cloakroom. There were manual training and domestic science rooms in the basement, a spacious library on the second floor and an assembly hall with a skylight on the third floor. The assembly hall served as the gymnasium until the new gymnasium was added in 1961.

The school was named after Matthew McCauley, the first Mayor of the Town of Edmonton, and a MLA in the first Alberta Legislature. McCauley championed the cause of education, raising money through subscription to build Edmonton’s first one room school. He was a member of the first Edmonton Public Board of School Trustees (1881), and was the first Edmonton School Board chairman.

- Edmonton Historical Board

SEE MORE:

"Three historic schools facing closure" by Lawrence Herzog
It's Our Heritage | Vol. 28 No. 16 | April 22, 2010