Ellison School and the Community - Kelowna, BC - Signs of History on Waymarking.com

THE PAST

Ellison School and the Community
Historically, the Ellison district was an active area of the Okanagan with settlement occurring only 13 years after the Oblate Priests built the first permanent settlement in the Mission area in 1860. Prior to the influx of settlers, the area was inhabited by migratory First Nations people and used by fur traders as a route linking the mouth of the Columbia River with trade posts to the north. Many factors other than the fur trade were responsible for attracting pioneers to the valley including the gold rush, the completion of the CPR and the promise of land for cattle ranching.

With the increase in population came the first schools to the area. Under the British Columbia Public School Act of 1872, it was required that the government provide school facilities and staff in areas where there was more than 8 children of school age residing. It was then, in 1894, that George Whelan donated an acre of land on which to build the first schoolhouse for the growing number of children in the valley. Often a teacher was secured before the school was built. When this happened, usually a local resident was willing to lend out a room in his house for the education of the pupils.

This was the case with the Ellison school, so Mr. Christien offered a room in his home to be used for teaching while construction was underway. In 1895 the one-room schoolhouse was opened and the first teacher was Miss Dorothea M. Thomson.

By 1912, there were enough children in the Ellison district to warrant a new school. The Ellison Primary School consisted of two rooms and at the time was considered very modern. It had a folding partition between the rooms that could be opened to allow for community meetings and other social events. The schoolhouse was an important building in the Ellison community and was a social focal point that held the community together.

The school hosted a stream of events through the years including concerts, recitations, skits, dances, plays done by the adults, casinos, baseball games, Cubs, Beavers and Brownies meetings. Two larger celebrations included the Centennial Celebration in 1967 and the 75th Anniversary celebration for the school held in 1987. Local residents produced a book called the Ellison District Pictorial History 1912 - 1987 and buried a time capsule on the school property. The capsule is scheduled to be opened in the year 2012 for the 100th Anniversary of the school.

The building underwent major renovations in the 1960's and remained a functioning school and community space until it was closed by the local School District in 1996.
From the Sign near the Building