The Estonian School in the Medicine River Valley near Gilby, Alberta

In late autumn of 1902, with temperatures in the minus 25 degree F range, three Estonian settlers, Henry Kingsep, Henry Kinna and August Posti, left Sylvan Lake to establish a new Estonian settlement in the Medicine River Valley. The first few days were spent building basic shelters to get them through the fast-approaching winter. Other Estonians arrived during the next few years and a sizeable Estonian community of several dozen families set down roots.

Almost immediately, pioneer families started to discuss the urgent need to provide their children with an education, especially the need to learn English. The issue assumed greater and greater importance as more families moved into the area.

Thus in 1905, Henry Kingsep arranged a meeting at the John Kinna homestead to discuss the issue and to formulate plans for the construction of a school. Participants included A. Posti, Paul Langer, Adam Matteus (Matthews), Paul and Peter Koot, Charlie Raabis, August Pihooja, Tom Rangen, Gabriel Maki, Fritz and Jack Kinna, and A.M. Gilbertson. The enthusiastic group decided to proceed with plans to build a school. A building site was made available by Karl Langer.

Construction materials were hauled in from Red Deer. The school (#1) was built by the Estonians in the Medicine River Valley - hence the name Estonian School - and opened in the fall of 1909. The first teacher was Mr. Martin who used the Eaton’s cataloque to teach 17 kids, aged 6-13 years, English. This little schoolhouse as well as the nearby Estonian Hall served as a social gathering place and dance hall for the closely-knit Estonian community until the end of World War II.

The deteriorating condition of the first Estonian School resulted in the construction of a new schoolhouse (#2) and a detached teacherage in 1945.

The entire community got behind the project with over 40 ratepayers, mostly Estonians, volunteering their labour and services. The School served the community until 1954 when Lacombe County decided to centralize education and to close all rural schools. The Estonian School was hauled to a school site in Eckville and was used as a resource room for a number of years. The teacherage found a new home on the Langer homesite.

Note: This brief account of the Estonian School is partly based on Mrs. Nelson’s handwritten article, with numerous drawings and student projects, entitled “History of the Estonian School (#1)”. The full 121-page article is part of the Alberta Folklore and Local History Collection, University of Alberta Libraries. It can be accessed on the following Internet site: http://folklore.library.ualberta.ca

Arnold Mottus deserves our vote of thanks for discovering Mrs. Nelson’s account of Estonian School #1 and for bringing it to our attention. Arnold also provided Figure #2.

Allan Posti provided very useful background information about Estonian School #2 built in 1945. He also supplied the pictures covering the period 1945-1954 and identified several of the students in Miss Lesher’s class in 1949-50.

Dave Kiil