School Name History
Location
5291 Bradner Road, Abbotsford, BC
Opened
1894; 1913 new one-room building (burned 1924); 1925 new two-room building
The School
The first school in 1894 was a two-room log building, originally Thomas Bradner’s horse barn. It was built at the corner of Bradner and Elsie Roads. The first teacher, Miss Wood, had seven students. The school had handmade double desks and the teacher’s desk stood on a raised platform. The school also served as a church until 1913.
In 1913, a new one-room school was erected. Until the community hall was built, it was also used to host concerts, community gatherings, and card parties. Bradner’s tradition of the Maypole Dance and choosing a May Queen from the sixth-grade students began in 1919 and is still celebrated today.
In the early evening of December 16,1924, just before the Christmas concert, the school burnt down. Classes were then held in two private homes until a new two-room school was constructed in 1925. This two-room school is still part of the present building.
Origin of the Name
The school is named after the community of Bradner, which is named in honour of an early pioneer, Thomas Bradner. Thomas Bradner arrived in Ontario from Ireland in 1853. He moved to B.C. in 1895 and homesteaded at the corner of Bradner and Elsie Roads where he cleared the land and raised livestock. In 1911, he sold the land to the B.C. Electric Railway and his name was given to the train station across from a log building which was the school. A store, Post Office, and an Anglican church were located nearby. The Bradner community’s name was made official in 1910. After selling this property, Thomas Bradner moved to Mission where he ran a dairy farm. He died in Matsqui in 1919.
The Early Community
Bradner was settled later than some of the other nearby areas because of its isolation and its forests. In 1893, the first European settlers to reach the area, the Carmichaels, landed in Glen Valley and trekked the nine miles to a small clearing in what is now Bradner. English, Scottish, and Irish settlers soon followed and established farms.
The Abbotsford School District graciously acknowledges the Abbotsford Retired Teachers Association for collecting the histories and stories of our schools as part of their "What's in a name?" 50th-anniversary project.
Image courtesy of The Reach P3166