Site #10: Riverhill School (No. 2586)
Established in 1910, the Riverhill School was the educational anchor for the families living along the river lots and the surrounding homesteads. It stood as a beacon of progress in a region that was still very much a frontier, serving as both a classroom for the young and a meeting hall for the community at large.
The Early Years and the Fire of 1931
Classes officially began at Riverhill in February 1912 with an initial enrollment of 14 students. These children often walked several miles—or arrived by horse and buggy—to reach the schoolhouse. As documented in the community history Bridging the Years: Era of Blaine Lake and District 1790-1980, the original building served the district faithfully for nearly two decades until it was tragically destroyed by fire in 1931. The loss of a school was a major crisis for a rural community, but the families of Riverhill acted quickly. A new, more modern schoolhouse was soon constructed on Riverlot North 7–45–5 W3, ensuring that the education of the district’s youth was not long interrupted.
A Community Hub
In the era before community centers and paved highways, the school was the only public building in the district. According to Saskatchewan Department of Education records, Riverhill hosted everything from local elections and municipal meetings to Saturday night dances and Christmas concerts. The teacher, who often lived in a small attached suite or a nearby teacherage, was a central figure in local life, frequently serving as an unofficial secretary or advisor to the community.
The Riverlot Challenge
The geography of the school district was unique because of the river lot system. While children in square-grid districts lived in a relatively compact area, the Riverhill students were spread thin along the narrow, two-mile-long river lots. As noted in the Saskatchewan Archives Board memoirs, winter attendance was a constant battle against the river valley’s microclimate, where deep snow in the coulees could make the short distance to school feel like an expedition. Despite these challenges, the school remained open until the late 1950s, when the province-wide shift toward larger, centralized schools led to its eventual closure.