Today’s historic comparison is of the Nagel House in the Rural Municipality of Happyland Saskatchewan. What’s this…Happyland? That’s awesome! We’ll see this majestic old home over a century ago, with the family and others out front, plus again more recently with no one about. Once full of life, it now holds only memories and ghosts of the past. It’s empty today and a silent monument to those who came before us.
The house is on private property but a person can easily view it from the road.
Settlers arrived in the area starting in the early 1900s and many came from German speaking regions of Prussia and Russia. Prussia comprises parts of Germany, Poland and Russia today. Romania also makes mention as the home country of some and that includes Mr Nagel. The map of Europe and neighbouring countries was a lot different back then and it’s hard to keep track of it all.
Nagel House RM of Happyland Saskatchewan: seen over 100 years apart. Loving Saskatchewan with Chris Doering & Connie Biggart (BIGDoer/Synd)
Thanks to “Anonymous” for sponsoring this and many other posts at BIGDoer.com. Be an angel…
Things really took off in this area with the arrival of the railway in the early 1910s. The Nagel house is from around the time of this accelerated settlement period and we’ve found build dates of both 1914 and 1916 mentioned. It was occupied until the 1970s, so it’s stood empty nearly as long as someone lived here.
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We suspect it may be a catalogue home (a classic four-square style), but have yet to find a definitive copy in any plans available to us. The T Eaton company (remember them?) functioned as the biggest player in Canada and most of their design specs are easily found. There were other suppliers, however, and records for them are not always so readily available. It’s of the right era, so that fits.
The building has all the hallmarks of the catalogue home and comments received when we posted photos of the Nagel House on social media seem to reflect this possibility. “That house has an Eaton mail order look to it. It’d be interesting if it matched any of the blueprints that were available back in the day.” – Stacey B. So far no, but we’ll keep looking.
Also, some folks modified catalogue homes and depending on the extent of these changes, this can make identification difficult. No matter, imagine viewing a Saskatchewan sunset from the upper deck. The province is the land of living skies and rarely does it disappoint.
The Then photo comes from a reader and we think it’s from the local history book. We have a copy of this volume, but it’s haggard and with many missing pages, including presumably an entry for this place. This book doesn’t seem easy to find, but we’ll keep looking and post updates if need be.
We did find a caption for the photo and let’s see what it says (paraphrased)…
“The Jacob (or Jakob) Johann Nagel Farm 1917. Standing (Left to Right): Paul, Mary, Jacob Johann, Henry and Eddie Nagel (a cousin). Standing On Running Board: Frieda, Carl, another cousin, Emil (son of Fred). Sitting in back seat: Ella, Rose, Mary, Diana (Fred’s wife holding Martha). Front Seat: John and Fred Nagel. Riding Horses: Jack Nagel and Adolf Laube. The car is a 1917 Maclaughlin owned by Fred Nagel.”
So there’s good who’s who of the Nagels here and others too. People seemed to have a really strong family dynamic back then and more so than today, or so it feels. Mary was Jacob’s wife. The name Nagel comes up often in the area, and no doubt they had much extended family nearby. Even today it appears in these parts, but we’re not sure if all are connected to these folks in some way.
We know for certain John, Fred (Frederick) and Ella listed in the caption, were the Nagel’s kids, but other siblings appear in the photos. Only we don’t know who is who for certain. They had eleven children according to Mr Nagel’s death records, but we don’t know all of them by name. Presumably some, but not all, are in the old photo. Couples had big broods back then and the size of the house reflects this. With that many, even it must have been cramped and chaotic at times.
The Nagels lived in the area starting in the early 1910s and likely in this house since it was built. The family moved out in 1927 and the folks who lived here afterwards, unfortunately, is not presently known. We need the local history book more and more.
You’ll note there was a barn on the property in the old photo. It was a farm after all, and no doubt there were other outbuildings there too. Then as today, cultivated fields surround the grounds and these extend to the horizon in every direction. The general region is semi-arid, but still seems quite productive for growing grain.
McLaughlin of Ontario, formerly McLaughlin Carriage Company, late in the 1910s became a component of General Motors of Canada. Starting in the 1920s they used the name McLaughlin-Buick, but a couple decades later it fell from use. Their cars, mostly Buick-based (and some Chevrolet) seemed well regarded and they sold well as a result.
The RM of Happyland originally used the name RM of Prussia but anti-German sentiment during World War One forced a change. Lots of folks in the area weren’t even from Germany, and just spoke the language, but that was enough of an association. As for the RM of Happyland? A cheery, positive and upbeat settler, it’s said, suggested the name and the rest is history.
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Date of adventure: 1917 and August 2024. Location: Rural Municipality of Happyland Saskatchewan. Article references and thanks: UofC Photo Archives, FindAGrave.com, RMOfHappyland.ca, Leader Weekly News January 9th 1947 (Jacob’s obituary) the local history book (incomplete) and all the area-knowledgeable readers on our Facebook page.
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