History

The beautiful brick building known as SS#4 West’s School, is located on County Road 30 just north of Campbellford and Westben’s Barn. It was built in 1890 by Charles Dunk and Louis Breault to replace an earlier frame schoolhouse that had burned to the ground. The first schoolhouse was a cottage roofed building made of logs.

Named after the West family which had previously owned the property, The Schoolhouse had slate blackboards added in 1906, was electrified in 1949 and later, an addition provided washrooms a welcome improvement on the outside wooden “closets”. When the rural schools closed in 1967 the property was purchase by the Women’s Institute and beautifully maintained until sold in 2013 to Jeannette Sanderson and Ken Layton who remain very grateful that they don’t have to arrive at five in the morning to light the fire before classes begin.

Do you already have a connection with West School?

Ever since being built in 1890, West School has served as a place of learning, community gathering and, when under the ownership of the Seymour Women’s Institute until 2013, a place of community building. Did you ever attend the school? Or did your family have a reunion there? Or have you heard a concert or done Yoga or Zumba? As we continue to honour the tradition of community gathering at the Schoolhouse, we would love to hear your stories! Send them to Donna at donna@westben.ca so we can preserve the memories of this wonderful community hub!

Questions / Connections

Do you have questions or connections to The West Schoolhouse? We would love to hear from you! Email Westben today.