Description of Historic Place

Paisley Brook School is a Municipal Heritage Property located in the Rural Municipality of Happy Valley No. 10, approximately 15 km southeast of the Hamlet of Big Beaver and 6 km north of the U.S. border. The property features a one-room, wood-frame schoolhouse built in 1916, situated on a grassy, .81 ha parcel of rural land.

Heritage Value

Residents of the Big Beaver district value Paisley Brook School as one of several properties that, collectively, tell the story of their community’s history. While local archaeological sites are reminders of the district’s first occupants, and other historic places evoke a frontier life of ranchers, outlaws and lawmen, Paisley Brook School represents the efforts of homesteading families to build a settled agricultural community. Together, these various historic resources contribute to the community’s strong sense of identity and help to communicate its distinctive character to outside audiences.

Further heritage value exists in the property’s association with education on the Canadian Prairies during the early twentieth century. Paisley Brook School was one of the first rural schools built in the Big Beaver district and is the last remaining on its original site. Characteristically, the Paisley Brook school was built by local men, likely using plans from the Waterman-Waterbury Company, a prominent school supply company of the period. The building, with its simple rectangular form and hipped roof, strongly resembles Waterman Waterbury’s Design No. 1, a design that was adopted as a model by the provincial Department of Education and served as a prototype for the majority of rural schools in Saskatchewan.

After decades of fulfilling its community’s educational needs and providing a venue for social gatherings, the school closed in 1957 due to declining enrollments and consolidation within the school system. The schoolhouse then served as a community centre until 1975, when it was acquired by a local tourism association. Restored and furnished with period equipment, Paisley Brook School currently functions as a museum that interprets early twentieth century education in rural Saskatchewan.

Source:

Rural Municipality of Happy Valley No. 10 Bylaw No. 2-2004.

Character-Defining Elements

The heritage value of Paisley Brook School resides in the following character-defining elements:
-elements that identify the building as a prototypical rural schoolhouse, including its simple massing and form; wood-frame construction; hipped roof with front dormer and replicated nameplate; shake shingles; clapboard siding; the pattern of the remaining window openings; central entranceway; the interior classroom space; and the wood flooring, mouldings, and v-joint wainscot;
-elements that speak to the property’s connection to the community and its role in interpreting early twentieth century education, including the school’s location on its original site, the open grounds, and the property’s availability for use as a museum and tourist attraction.