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Clearwater County historic school: Crimson Lake

Rocky Mountain House, AB, Canada / 94.5 Rewind Radio
Jordan Rein
Jul 27, 2026 | 12:04 PM
Clearwater County historic school: Crimson Lake

Crimson Lake historic school marker sign as seen July 8, 2026. (94.5 Rewind Radio/Jordan Rein)



It was a hot, muggy July day when Allan Sunde led my dad and I on an adventure into the woods off Highway 756 to find the actual site of Crimson Lake School.

The hundreds of campers headed to Crimson Lake and Wilderness Village each summer are greeted by a sign marking the location of Crimson Lake School along the side of the road. However, finding the actual site today requires a short, 50-yard hike into the lush foliage just off the highway.

Still visible today is the cleared land where the schoolhouse once stood. Evidence of the outhouse and teacherage can also still be found. Dad even uncovered pieces of an old stove pipe buried just beneath the soil.

Cleared land where Crimson Lake historic school once stood. Hwy. 756 near the Buster Creek Rd. intersection is visible in the background. (94.5 Rewind Radio/Jordan Rein)

The school served students in Grades 1 through 8 from 1914 to 1960. The original school district was called Isojoki, named after a rural municipality in Finland.

The building and schoolyard sat right along the original road to Crimson Lake. However, Sunde says the site was abandoned when a new access road to Crimson Lake was built farther away from the school.

After 1960, students were bused into Rocky Mountain House.

Connection to Helen Hunley

Before she became the MLA for Rocky Mountain House and the first woman to serve as Lieutenant Governor of Alberta, Sunde says Helen Hunley helped children with their education at Crimson Lake School.

Later, the Hunley family settled in the Garth district, closer to Rocky Mountain House.

However, Hunley’s sister and brother-in-law taught full time at Crimson Lake School and other schools around the county.

The Bowhays later moved to Rocky Mountain House, where Mr. Bowhay served as Allan Sunde’s Grade 9 teacher.

Sunde says the Rocky Ag Society is still searching for a photograph of the school site and is asking anyone who has one to get in touch with them at rockyagsocietyinfo@gmail.com.

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Allan Sunde stands on the spot where students once learned at Crimson Lake school between 1914 and 1960. (94.5 Rewind Radio/Jordan Rein)
Site of the historic Crimson Lake school looking northwest as seen July 25, 2026. (94.5 Rewind Radio/Jordan Rein)
Crimson Lake historic school marker sign. (94.5 Rewind Radio/Jordan Rein)

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