Many buildings in Banff hold stories, including the simple structure you’ll find at 606 Caribou Street. Built as a home in 1906, in 1940 Margaret (Haskins) Greenham and Henry Greenham acquired it as a campus for their unique and growing Mountain School.
Free to create their own curriculum, Margaret and Henry Greenham expected Mountain School students to perform original plays in forest settings, to learn about and participate in outdoor sports and mountaineering. Opening in 1920, the School ran until the Margaret and Henry retired in 1947.
The Mountain School educated many Banff residents. It also housed and educated young English students during the Second World War. Many British parents, including actress Vivien Leigh, enrolled their children there. Longtime Banff resident Jim Davies – holding his 1944 class picture in the photo below – recalls many of his classmates at that time coming from the UK.
Bowstrings Banff, one of the members of our Collective, now owns and stewards this storied heritage property.
Banff Resident Jim Davies holds his class photo in front of the former Mountain School campus, located at 606 Caribou Street, Banff.