Remember This? Who was Alex Muir, and what ever happened to that school?

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Alexander Muir was born on April 5, 1830 in Lesmahagow, Lanarkshire, Scotland and his family immigrated to Canada in 1833, settling in Scarborough Township. 

His father was involved in the school, where Alexander received his early education before going on to Queen’s University. 

He graduated in 1855 with a Bachelor of Arts Degree and entered the teaching field. 

He had teaching positions in Newmarket, Beaverton and Toronto. 

From 1860 until 1870 Muir was principal of Leslieville School and from 1890 until 1906 he was the principal of the Gladstone Avenue Public School in Toronto.  

In October of 1867, Muir was walking through a Toronto park with a friend, when a leaf from a silver maple fell upon Muir’s sleeve. 

The incident inspired Muir to write a poem about a maple leaf. 

His wife encouraged him to set the poem to music and the song ‘The Maple Leaf Forever’ was published. 

The patriotic nature of the song made it popular in the newly formed Dominion of Canada. 

During the two world wars the soldiers sang the song so often and it became so popular that non-Canadians came to believe that it was the country’s national anthem.  

In 1906, the same year that Alexander Muir died, the Sault Ste. Marie Board of Education had built a new school and decided to name it in his honour. 

Harold Megginson, a member of the Board at the time, chose the name for the school in part because Alex Muir had been his principal in Toronto. 

In a statement by the Board regarding Alexander Muir: “He was a noble man, an able teacher, and eloquent speaker, and wrote our National Song: ‘The Maple Leaf Forever.’

Over the years, the school building underwent many changes but it always remained at 188 Kohler Street. 

In 1952 four new rooms were added to the original six classroom structure and in 1962, after realizing that the old building was no longer suitable, the old building was demolished. 

The 1952 section was modernized and the complete structure of 10 classrooms and an auditorium became the new school.

Most recently the school was repurposed and renamed the Urban Aboriginal Alternative High School until it closed in June 2014.

The property was then put up for sale by the Algoma District School Board.  

In the photograph above, the grade seven class from 1938 is depicted with their teacher Miss Wright. 

Row 1: Bill Russell, Margaret Phillips, Bill Moor, Doris Marie Phillips, Glen Ray, Marianne Morphy, Jack Brason, Austen Stableforth. 

Row 2: Phyllis Morley, Enid Wyatt, Wallace Penfold, Barbara Ferguson, Clinton Hallam, Marion Smith, Betty Fleming, Harry Whalen, Jeffrey Anderson.

Row 3: Leslie Crawford, Josephine Murray, Robert Pratt, Donald McAllister, Stuart MacDougall, Grant McWatters, Joyce Thompson, Marion MacLeod, Gilbert MacInnis.

Row 4: Robert Carroll, Geoff Rowland, Margaret Ann Campbell, Ken Kraft, Donald Kunkel, Elmer Hannah, Margaret Murray, Gordon Graham.

Row 5: Percy Mervyn, Joyce Langdon, Clifford Derry, Vince Prewer, Ken Moodie.  

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Each week, the Sault Ste. Marie Public Library and its Archives provides SooToday readers with a glimpse of the city’s past.

Find out more of what the Public Library has to offer at www.ssmpl.ca and look for more Remember This? columns here.