The History of Mississauga's Meadowvale Village’s Schoolhouse

School Section 15, Meadowvale, c1905.

Thinking of September and back to school, this week’s article will explore a bit of the story of a former one-room schoolhouse that remains a beloved community landmark in our city.

The first schoolhouse to serve Meadowvale Village opened by 1831. It was a small one-room log building, located a short distance south of the village. This schoolhouse may not have survived long, as records for it are scarce. By the late 1840s families in the area were discussing the need for a proper school in the community. Aaron Silverthorn, the father of Meadowvale mill-owner Francis Silverthorn, presented a petition to Toronto Township Council on February 11, 1850. However, no action was taken. But Aaron did not give up, and he presented another petition in the Spring of 1851. This time, the request was approved, and School Section #15 was built in Meadowvale Village, at the corner of Second Line West and Barberry Lane, in the summer of 1851. The first trustees for S.S. #15 were Francis Silverthorn, Andrew Davidson and John Simpson, and the first schoolteacher was James McCullock True.

The second schoolhouse was a small, one-room wood frame building. Once the second schoolhouse was built, the fledgling Methodist congregation in the village also used the building until they built their own church in 1863.

Former Meadowvale Schoolhouse, 2012.

As the community developed, it became apparent that a new, larger schoolhouse was needed. The third schoolhouse in the village, a board and batten frame building, opened on Second Line West in 1871. This is the building that survives today. The first schoolhouse had long since vanished, and the second schoolhouse was sold and converted to a house, which was lost in a fire in 1974.

Some teachers who are fondly remembered include Gordon Tucker, Miss McCracken, Jean Johnson, Sadie Carr and Miss Smith, amongst many others.

In 1916, the schoolhouse hosted a patriotic and recruiting concert, aimed at raising support and enlistments during the First World War. Several former pupils of the schoolhouse served in both the First and Second World Wars. The Meadowvale Women’s Institute held fundraising concerts in the schoolhouse. Meetings of “The Fortnightly Club” (Meadowvale Literary Society) were also held in the schoolhouse beginning in 1903 and running until about 1912.

Meadowvale Village Hall.

In 1959 the old schoolhouse, which had served as the village’s school since 1871, closed, when the new Meadowvale Public School opened. In 1968 the former schoolhouse became the Community Centre. The building still serves the community today and is known as the Meadowvale Village Hall.

The Meadowvale Schoolhouse was Designated under the Terms of the Ontario Heritage Act by the City of Mississauga and is a visually prominent part of the Meadowvale Village Heritage Conservation District.

The old schoolhouse is one of only a few historic schoolhouses that survive in Mississauga and is a celebrated reminder of the early days of established education in our city. Although the building no longer serves as a classroom, for 88 years, between 1871 and 1959, it welcomed generations of local residents back to school each September.