In honour of Ontario Heritage Week, InnisfilToday will be sharing a series of stories from the Innisfil Heritage Committee on the town's early villages and settlements
This week, the Innisfil Heritage Advisory Committee has been highlighting some of Innisfil’s former one-room schools that have been repurposed for other modern functions. While not a one-room schoolhouse, the Cookstown School offers an excellent example of how built heritage has been repurposed into contemporary living spaces.
Cookstown’s first school was a small log cabin built in 1852. A growing student population saw several more schools built in various locations within the village until the school we now know as S.S. No. 1 was constructed at the corner of George Street and Wellington Street in 1888 with three classrooms. A significant remodelling was undertaken in 1913 with the main floor Public School classrooms used for Grades 1 to 8 and two new upstairs classrooms added for the Continuation School which accommodated grades 9 to 12.
The Continuation School was closed in 1951 as students began being bused to the newly constructed Banting Memorial High School in Alliston. The elementary grades continued to use the building until 1959 when the current Cookstown Central School was opened on King Street North. The building was sold in 1961 and converted into the Ha-Bray Manufacturing Company which produced baby clothes until 1966 when the property was sold again and converted into apartments which it functions as today.
