Downtown Bawlf Alberta

We’re in bustling downtown Bawlf Alberta armed with a photo over a century old and have an idea to put it to good use. Cool plans at that! You guessed it right and yes, it’s Then & Now time! We’re looking down the wide main street (Hanson Street) of town and towards the tracks. Unlike many rural places, the railway still runs through town and that’s almost notable these days.

Our goal is to replicate the old shot and its always a thrill knowing we’re standing close to the same spot as another photographer did eons ago. The view is quite different now, and the only thing recognizable to connect the two eras is the old bank building on the right. Otherwise, everything else is either gone, or so changed as to be unrecognizable. Mostly, it’s the former.

Before anything else, why the wide street? It seems all prairie towns were similar in this regard, so there must be a good reason. There seems to be two explanations given in old history books. It certainly gave an air of importance to a community and that’s one that’s often noted. It’s always been about appearances.

We’ve similarly seen it mentioned they were necessary to allow horse drawn conveyances, common when these towns were founded, room enough to turn around. A string of grain wagons could be pulled by many teams and not easy to maneuver.

It sounds like both were in play.

The old image comes from a scanned postcard found at the University of Calgary archives and is in the public domain. No date accompanied the image, but it appears to show the town quite early on. Everything looks newly built and the grass on the street hasn’t even been beaten down. Bawlf was founded in 1905-1906 (sources differ), with the coming of the railway, so it must be from that time or shortly after.

Typical for the era, the business strip was lined with many false front buildings and the most prominent position in town occupied by the train station there at the end of the street. Everything back then came and went by train. The Union Hotel stands in a similarly important location across from the depot (where the action was) and is the three-story structure in back, on the left.

We couldn’t make out any names of the businesses, but there would have been the usual assortment of retail shops and services. Every prairie town, minimally, had a grocer, hotel, hardware store, bank, druggist and barber.

Bawlf’s population presently is about four hundred and about double from the early days. This makes it one of a handful of prairie villages that have not shrunk over time and that’s actually quite odd. Still, there’s not much going on and the downtown today is a shadow of its former self. Sure the road’s still big and wide, but sees little traffic. We stood unchallenged out on the pavement for quite some time lining up the shot and it was though we were the only ones around.

BTW, old photos show the main street as gravel (or oftentimes mud) into the 1950s at least.

A mini-market down the street (left, in the shadow of the grain elevator and with cars in front) appeared to be the only functioning business in view. There’s some other buildings as you can see, used for who knows what, but mostly downtown is comprised of empty lots.

The old bank appears prominent in both photos and seems to be the only identifiable building from early days still standing. It’s possible a couple structures on the other side might appear in the old photo, for example the false fronted one up from the grocery store, but we can’t be sure. There’s no doubt about this one, however, and it’s little changed.

Even though it’s now someone’s home, we know it was a bank by its design. The Canadian Bank of Commerce (now present day Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce) built hundreds of branches just like this across the west, in the early days, and even when repurposed they stand out.

This one’s of wood and we’ve seen them in brick too. Surprisingly a fair number still exist out there in rural parts, but few remain as banks. We’ve seen examples made into homes as was done here, libraries, post offices and even one that’s a coffee shop.

Note there’s a few people milling about in the old photo, including what looks to be a couple kids sitting on a wood walkway, bottom right. We can’t help wonder who they were and then consider how many generations have come after. A lot! On our visit, we were alone out on the street. We like that feeling.

The grain elevator in back is a late model example and built at the end of the wood prairie sentinel era in the 1980s. Soon after large inland terminals would be a thing and these are typically placed out in the county and away from the confines of town. And instead of lumber, they’re of concrete or steel. In years past, there were other wood grain elevators along the tracks in Bawlf, but this one’s the last. An oopsie that happened within sight of the building: The Bawlf Incident.

The elevator displays Alberta Wheat Pool colours and was built by that firm, but now owned by Canada Malting. Note that a structure in town in the now photo appears of the same colour. Coincidence?

The Canadian Pacific Railway tracks passing through Bawlf head east to Saskatoon Saskatchewan and points beyond. Going west, it connects with the firm’s Edmonton to Calgary line.

Bawlf gets its name from one Nicholas Bawlf and the fellow was a big wheel in the grain industry back in those days. There was even a network of grain elevators that carried his name and we’ve visited one over the years. It belong to a friend and is the last Bawlf Grain Company grain elevator still standing. Here: Prairie Sentinels – Woodhouse Alberta – Vandervalk Farm.

There’s an interesting little building a block over, so out in the ‘burbs, and it’s the town’s original fire hall dating back to 1911. The tower part is for drying hoses after use.

We don’t know who shot the photo for the postcard we used but we’d like to thank them for all the fun that came out of it. Postcards were a big thing, once, and often fodder for this series. Anyway, we appreciate it.

Know more about the town: (new window): Bawlf Alberta.

Stop by often for new and interesting content posted regularly.

They’re saying…

”Chris and Connie are the real deal – their adventures are truly interesting and fun!” Justine Cooke.

More like this…
Then & Now: Foremost Alberta.
Unity Saskatchewan Then & Now.
East Coulee Alberta Then and Now.

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Date of Adventure: November, 2021.
Location: Bawlf, AB.
Article references and thanks: Book – We Came and We Stayed, Geoffrey Lester & Canadian Trackside Guides.

Downtown Bawlf Alberta over a century apart.

Beside our shooting position.

This grain elevator dominates the view today.

The only building recognizable in both photos.

The 1911 fire hall, a block over.