Oct 25, 2009 - 04:34 AM

By Kristen Calis

PICKERING -- A Pickering library that used to school a former prime minister has been granted heritage designation.

The former Pickering School House has been designated under the Ontario Heritage Act for its historical and architectural value and interest.

"It basically maintains the property in the context of keeping the heritage attributes safe," said City clerk Debi Wilcox.

The schoolhouse was built in 1860, a time of great prosperity in Ontario, according to a report by local historians John Sabean and Gordon Zimmerman. It became the Greenwood Public Library in 1980.

"It's an important building," said Jim Simpson, chairman of the Heritage Pickering Advisory Committee. "The history is important and we want to preserve it."

Perhaps the schoolhouse's greatest claim to fame is one of its former pupils, the 13th prime minister of Canada, John George Diefenbaker. Between 1897 and 1899, his father, William T. Diefenbaker, was a teacher there. Although, at just four years old, John was too young to enroll in the school, he did attend classes there since his mother found him too much of a handful to stay home, the report said. He returned for visits in the 1920s and the 1950s and fondly recalled his time there in later years.

"The history itself really is interesting," said Mr. Simpson.

The report listed many other notable people associated with the building, including John Williston, who was an assistant teacher there and later became editor-in-chief of the Toronto Globe. The close friend of Canada's seventh prime minister, Sir Wilfrid Laurier, wrote a book about him and was eventually knighted himself, becoming Sir John Stephen Williston.

The building itself is probably the best preserved of the old one-room schoolhouses in Pickering, the report claims. It's made of local materials, including brick on the outside, and the windows are held together with finely detailed bars that are traditional in southern Ontario and have stood the test of time.

Because much of Pickering's land is frozen from development, many of the buildings have remained pretty much unchanged over the years.

"We're lucky in Pickering," Mr. Simpson said. "Let's continue to protect these architectural and heritage buildings."

The school house was on a long list of old buildings the committee hopes to give similar designations.

Ms. Wilcox explained the committee is trying to designate at least three properties a year. More than 15 have been designated so far.