Owen Sound Collegiate and Vocational Institute
Encyclopedia
Owen Sound Collegiate and Vocational Institute (OSCVI), located in Owen Sound, Ontario
, Canada
, is one of the oldest schools in Canada having been founded in 1856 and in the late 1880s and early 1890s was the most academically successful school in Ontario.. The school also boasts a number of famous alumni.
had legislated the creation of grammar schools, which in essence were secondary schools, primary schools being known as common schools. In 1856 Grey County recognised the need for such a grammar school and the construction of a building to house both the grammar and common school was begun. Whilst this was being constructed on 10th Street West, ten students were taught in a leased building on 3rd Avenue East in 1856. The school dates its inception to that point. However, problems arose with the facility and new school was closed at the end of 1856 for a two year period. In 1858 a new school building was erected on 4th Avenue East on a site now occupied by Strathcona School. This building housed the Owen Sound High School. In 1886 it was renamed the Owen Sound Collegiate Institute. Under this new guise from 1887 to 1892 the school placed first in the provincial department examinations. Such was the school's academic achievement and dominance in this period that it has been described as one of a handful of outstanding collegiates in the 1880s and 1890s in Canada. In part its success was put down to civic pride and public investment in modern and uncommon facilities such as a science laboratory. The building was expanded in 1907.
In 1924 a new vocational wing was built, and the school was renamed Owen Sound Collegiate and Vocational Institute (OSCVI). By 1951 the original building was in poor condition, and the third floor assembly hall had actually been condemned because of the fire hazard. The City Council had turned down three requests for space at Victoria Park to build a new school, and the issue finally went to a plebiscite in December 1951. The vote was overwhelmingly against building a new school on Victoria Park. Less than six months later the issue became moot when the older part of the school was destroyed by a spectacular blaze (May 1952). The vocational wing was repaired and the rest of the school was rebuilt on the same site, with a further addition completed in 1970. In 1997 construction began on a new site on 8th Street East, and this, the current school, was opened in the autumn of 1999.
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, is one of the oldest schools in Canada having been founded in 1856 and in the late 1880s and early 1890s was the most academically successful school in Ontario.. The school also boasts a number of famous alumni.
History
Up until the 1850s Owen Sound had little in the way of formal education. At that time, the colonial government of Upper CanadaUpper Canada
The Province of Upper Canada was a political division in British Canada established in 1791 by the British Empire to govern the central third of the lands in British North America and to accommodate Loyalist refugees from the United States of America after the American Revolution...
had legislated the creation of grammar schools, which in essence were secondary schools, primary schools being known as common schools. In 1856 Grey County recognised the need for such a grammar school and the construction of a building to house both the grammar and common school was begun. Whilst this was being constructed on 10th Street West, ten students were taught in a leased building on 3rd Avenue East in 1856. The school dates its inception to that point. However, problems arose with the facility and new school was closed at the end of 1856 for a two year period. In 1858 a new school building was erected on 4th Avenue East on a site now occupied by Strathcona School. This building housed the Owen Sound High School. In 1886 it was renamed the Owen Sound Collegiate Institute. Under this new guise from 1887 to 1892 the school placed first in the provincial department examinations. Such was the school's academic achievement and dominance in this period that it has been described as one of a handful of outstanding collegiates in the 1880s and 1890s in Canada. In part its success was put down to civic pride and public investment in modern and uncommon facilities such as a science laboratory. The building was expanded in 1907.
In 1924 a new vocational wing was built, and the school was renamed Owen Sound Collegiate and Vocational Institute (OSCVI). By 1951 the original building was in poor condition, and the third floor assembly hall had actually been condemned because of the fire hazard. The City Council had turned down three requests for space at Victoria Park to build a new school, and the issue finally went to a plebiscite in December 1951. The vote was overwhelmingly against building a new school on Victoria Park. Less than six months later the issue became moot when the older part of the school was destroyed by a spectacular blaze (May 1952). The vocational wing was repaired and the rest of the school was rebuilt on the same site, with a further addition completed in 1970. In 1997 construction began on a new site on 8th Street East, and this, the current school, was opened in the autumn of 1999.
Alumni
- Bill MurdochBill MurdochBill Murdoch is a politician in Ontario, Canada. He has been a member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario since 1990, and represents the riding of Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound as a Progressive Conservative....
- Frederick Donald MacKenzieFrederick Donald MacKenzieFrederick Donald MacKenzie, was a soldier, teacher and Member of Parliament in Canada.Mackenzie was born in Presqu’ile, Ontario and was educated at Owen Sound Collegiate and Vocational Institute and Queen’s University where he earned a bachelor of arts.He served during World War I with the Queen’s...
- Victor PorteousVictor PorteousVictor Clarence Porteous was a National Government and Conservative member of the Canadian House of Commons. He was born in Derby Township, Ontario and became a farmer....
- Billy BishopBilly BishopAir Marshal William Avery "Billy" Bishop VC, CB, DSO & Bar, MC, DFC, ED was a Canadian First World War flying ace, officially credited with 72 victories, making him the top Canadian ace, and according to some sources, the top ace of the British Empire.-Early life:Bishop was born in Owen Sound,...
- Norman BethuneNorman BethuneHenry Norman Bethune was a Canadian physician and medical innovator. Bethune is best known for his service in war time medical units during the Spanish Civil War and with the Communist Eighth Route Army during the Second Sino-Japanese War...
- Agnes MacphailAgnes MacphailAgnes Campbell Macphail was the first woman to be elected to the Canadian House of Commons, and one of the first two women elected to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario...
- Shell BuseyShell BuseyShell Busey is a popular Canadian radio and television personality and home improvement expert. he was the host of the Home Discovery Show until July 2011, a talk radio show on the Corus Radio Network. He is also the creator of the HouseSmart Home Services Referral Network, a conglomerate of over...
- Robert HanbidgeRobert HanbidgeRobert Leith Hanbidge was a Canadian lawyer, municipal, provincial and federal politician, and the 12th Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan.-Early life:...
- Dr. Retta Gifford (1864 - 1942)
- William Wilfred CampbellWilliam Wilfred CampbellWilliam Wilfred Campbell was a Canadian poet. He is often classed as one of the country's Confederation Poets, a group that included fellow Canadians Charles G.D. Roberts, Bliss Carman, Archibald Lampman, and Duncan Campbell Scott; he was a colleague of Lampman and Scott...
