St. Julien School District #3578
In 1918 The St. Julien Community, south of Esther, Alberta held a meeting and decided to build a school for all the children in that community. A site was chosen, it was central to all the residents on the NW corner of 34-30-2W4 at the base of a hill known as Starvation Butte. The school was open in 1918 and remained open until 1955 when a new school in Esther was built and the students were taken there by school bus. One of the early teachers was Beryl (Robarts) Thurston, pictured above, she taught there in 1942 and 1943. The old school is still standing today, being used for grain storage as many of these old schools ended up doing. The St. Julien School Corner is still a landmark for many of the locals and also for those of us who used to live in the area. It has been used as a reference point for many lost travelers.