The historic Anniedale School was moved to its new home at the Museum of Surrey on Thursday night.
The move comes as part of the museum’s $15.7-million expansion project. The 127-year-old school joins the Anderson Cabin to create a heritage campus that includes the 1912 Municipal Hall, the Cloverdale Library and Veteran’s Square.
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The 1881 Town Hall was originally scheduled to be moved to the heritage campus on the same night as Anniedale School, but the move will be delayed until it can be stabilized further.
According to historical research by Bob Reimer, published by Surrey History, the Anniedale School was named after Dame Annie Bickerton Stanley, the daughter of Elizabeth Wilhelmina Pooley, who gave the land for the school to be built on.
It was constructed for a total price of $750 in 1891, and the one-room schoolhouse had thirteen students in its first year. It played a significant part of the development of the Anniedale and Tynehead neighbourhoods in Surrey. Students came from Port Kells and Barnston Island to study, and the building was used as a community hall by neighbouring residents.
It was the centre of much community pride, as it had the distinction of having the highest percentage of students in the school district that went on to higher education.
It was originally located on 96 Avenue near the intersection with 182 Street. It closed in 1954, when the new Anniedale school opened at 9744 176 Street. The historic building lay vacant for nearly two decades before it was decided in 1975 to move the school to the site of the new Anniedale.
Today, it is one of the few surviving one-room schoolhouses in the Lower Mainland.
editor@cloverdalereporter.com
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