Remember This? W.J. Lamming school

From the archives of the Sault Ste. Marie Public Library:

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Remember This . . . W.J. Lamming Public School – a school with a long history!

As the area around Sault Ste. Marie began to be settled, families moved in and immediately the need for schools became more urgent. 

In 1867 the first school in Korah Township was built slightly north of the corner of the present day Third Line and Allen Side Road.  It was a simple log building located on an acre of land owned by Richard Cloverdale.  For the next three years James Henry Gore taught the students including: Isabel and Angus Fletcher, Sarah and Fanny Laming, Katy and Frank Murton, Sarah and David McColloch, George Coverdale, Andrew Crawford, Willie, Henry, Charlotte and Emma Marshall, Alex Ross and Wallace, Thomas, William Henry, Irving and Rose Gore.  There is a stone marker and a commemorative plaque on Allen Side Road marking the location of the first school.  

In 1870, a new log school house was built on the Third Line, on the site of the present day building.  It continued to be the only school in Korah Township until 1878 when construction of a timber frame school was built on the site of the current Greenwood School.  Mr. William Sharp became the teacher for the school and lived in the back of the school building. He was described as having a wooden leg.  By 1871 the area was developing and a school board was established.  There were now three trustees to oversee the operations of the school.  In 1882, the log school was forced to close due to evidence of rotting logs which led to it finally being replaced by a frame school.  

As more families moved into the area the need for a larger school became a priority.  In 1912, the school board in West Korah voted to award a contract to R.L. Allcock to enlarge the school by adding 15 feet to the east of the current school.  The cost for this project was $650 and it was to be completed by September 1, 1912.  During the next few years, the number of students continued to increase and the West Korah School Board entered into agreements to build additional schools so that some of the children could be moved to other schools. 

Early in 1918, it was reported that the West Korah Public School had 62 students enrolled.  The teacher, Miss Lyla Brooks from Meaford, complained that there were only 60 seats and they expected to have 70 students on the register list very soon.  She was the only teacher at this point and it was a challenge to teach so many students in one room at one time!  As a result some students were transferred to other schools nearby.  In addition, a notice was sent home to the parents on April 20, 1918 that the two youngest grades of students would have to be discontinued until after the summer break in order to make space for the older students.  Some students were probably very happy to have an extended summer holiday that year.  In 1919, a wing was added to the west side of the existing school providing some much needed space.  The school now had two rooms with one room referred to as the junior room and the other room known as the senior room. 

During the winter months, there was a rink (complete with a rink shack and lanterns) built at the school and many evenings and weekends would find the pupils walking back to the school so that they could skate and play hockey.  During the Depression, there were a number of families who moved out from town to live in the country.  Their children attended the West Korah School and part of their curriculum included learning how to grow flowers and vegetables which would prove to be a very useful skill to have during the Great Depression.   

By 1952, a new four-room school was built behind the old timber frame school and the old school was then torn down.  The school board decided that the new school would have a new name and chose W. J. Lamming.  Walter John Lamming had attended the West Korah Public School during the early period in the school’s history.  He had also served as Reeve of Korah Township for 19 years and it was felt that this was an appropriate way to recognize his contribution to the township.

The longest serving principal at W.J. Lamming was Harry M. Robbins.  He was hired in 1921 and remained at the school until he retired in 1962.  As a result he taught the children of many of his first pupils and in some cases he may even have taught their grandchildren!  He was well-respected by all of his students.  

Unfortunately declining enrolments forced the closure of W.J. Lamming Public School in 1979.  It continued to be used as a resource centre for a few years but was eventually sold and the building and property continue to be privately owned.  

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