OUR MISSION & VISION

The Morse Museum and Cultural Centre is currently in it's 37th year of operation. The building that is now the museum began life as the town school By 1910 the town of Morse had a growing population and the original town school had reached maximum capacity, something had to be done.  There were two proposed suggestions, they could expand the current school or they could construct a new facility. 

 

The 1911 school year was spent looking into the feasibility of constructing a new school and in the mean time, to elevate the overcrowding, the Town Council Chambers were used as an extra classroom. The new school was to be located on the west side of town and the Canadian Pacific Railway (C.P.R) gave the school half of a block on which they could build.

 

The architects that were chosen to design the school were Reilly, Dawson, Hancock, and Reilly, with Mr. J.H. Leeby being given the construction contract. The building was constructed in the Neo-Georgian style, which was a very popular style for public buildings during the late Victorian and into the early Edwardian Eras.

The construction was slated to be finished by October 15th of 1912 but the building would not be occupied until the new year (1913). The population continued to grow through the early 1920's, reaching 900 and by 1928 the school needed more space. This would be the first of several additions being added onto the building, currently, the building is in it's 1928 configuration.

 

The first expansion consisted of two additional rooms being built to the south. The school would remain in that configuration until it was expanded again in 1961. Again this expansion was built on the south side of the facility and included a workshop, library, auditorium, gym, science lab, and additional classrooms. A third addition of four classrooms for Junior High would be constructed in 1971. The school operated in this fashion until the original part of the school (1928) was closed in 1979.

 

The building was then slated for demolition. However, town residents rallied and in September 1980, the Morse Cultural and Heritage Association was established with the express goal of saving the building from demolition.  In April of 1981, the building was designated a Municipal Heritage building and in October 1984 it was handed over to the town of Morse who subsequently leased the building to the Morse Cultural and Heritage Association. 

 

The building then became an official museum in 1987. The museum would operate alongside the modern school (the 1961 & 1971 extensions) until the closing of that school in 2009. That partnership is what led to the museum receiving a nationally recognized award, "the         Canadian Museums Association's Museum and Schools Partnership Award" for our school tour program. Today the museum continues to tell the stories of the people and the town of Morse as well as preserving local and provincial history.