Cedardale School (SS #2) / Cedar Dale United Church

In 1867, a one room school house was built on Simcoe Street South in the community of Cedar Dale.
Plans for this grey brick schoolhouse were completed by local architect Mr. Hiram Robert Barber. It was in use as a school for 60 years before overcrowding became an issue. More people were moving to Cedar Dale to avoid the higher cost of living in the Town of Oshawa. A new brick school was built across the street to accomodate the higher enrollment.

The Cedar Dale United congregation had met in a local hall for quite a while before moving into the abandoned schoolhouse in 1927.

The building was renamed Cedar Dale Church and was dedicated on Sunday February 20, 1927. It was the first United Church in the community.

The former school was purchased with the help of George W. McLaughlin and was given to the Oshawa Presbytery as a place of worship. A number of families who had lived in the area but attended churches in the north side of the city made up the nucleus of the new congregation.

After the Second World War, volunteers dug out the basement of the church by hand and provided a church hall. Worship continues today in the tiny church with the crooked cross stained glass window hanging in its front window.

By the 2020s, the church had closed and was sold. The Triumphant Church of God Durham has been using the building since the mid-2020s.

With information from:

“Cedardale United Church, 824 Simcoe Street South: Research Report,” accessed via: https://www.oshawa.ca/en/parks-recreation-and-culture/resources/Documents/Heritage-Research-Rpt_Simcoe-St-S-824.pdf

J. Douglas Ross, Education in Oshawa: From Settlement to City.