Greenwood BC has an rip-roaring past and is home to a huge number of historically significant buildings. Known as Canada’s “smallest city” it’s a great place for a history buffs to explore and in this trip we take a brief look at the remains of the giant BC Copper Company...
We’re often asked how many bear encounters we’ve had. One would think a lot yet in spite of spending the last ten plus years in the woods the answer to this question is actually surprisingly few. We’ve seen lots of signs and do so nearly every trip, we’ve spotted bears...
The Red Deer River valley is like a magnet to me. It’s an oddly beautiful place and I love the interesting landscapes, but it’s also home to a good number of historical sites that can be explored. On this trip I take a look at the East Coulee area which...
Located not far from Writing on Stone Provincial Park, Masinasin Alberta is nothing today and even at its peak (if there ever was a peak) was never much of a town to begin with. On the lonely and expansive prairie there is precious little to say there was ever anything...
These photos, dating from waaaay back in 1990, show a very interesting place, the Moyie River Falls. It’s a fascinating spot, not just because it’s scenic, but also because of the history. The immediate area is a well know gold producer and is pockmarked with old mine workings and both...
Bits and bites are a wonderful little snack, a nice mix of flavours and textures. Here we duplicate that theme and this bits and bites post included subjects like a locomotive painted in CPRs traditional tuscan red and grey livery, and old Ford F600 that still works for a living,...
Produced in the 1970s yet looking thoroughly modern even today, the GMC motorhome is a much sought after vehicle by collectors. It’s smooth and pleasing lines, its functionality and innovate features make it stand out amongst its contemporaries. It’s a real head turner and futuristic in every aspect! Introduced in...
Rounding out this series we’ll take one last look at the vast machinery collections seen at the Pioneer Acres Museum in Irricana Alberta. In the past we looked at trucks, restored and not, along with construction and road machinery. This time around we’ll examine farm tractors and they have a...
Old and abandoned farm vehicles are a magnet to photographers, professional and amateur alike. Often found at the edge of a field or by an ancient barn, they tell a story, sometimes a sad one, that begs to be explored and captured. By using these twelve useful tips anyone can...
The ghost town of Lumberton BC was once home to a large sawmill operation. It was an orderly place, unlike like most mill towns in the province, and bits and pieces of it still remain. There are the mill buildings, which still stand, along with bits and pieces from the...
The Greenhill Mine site is a slice of history, a long abandoned but nearly complete coal mine and surface plant from the past. An operating museum by the time it closed in the late 1950s, it’s as though time just stopped here. A designated historical site, the elements and vandals...
Doukhobors are often associated with Northern Saskatchewan or maybe the Grand Forks, Castlegar and Nelson regions of BC, but other colonies existed in Alberta, including one named Anastasia, located near the towns of Arrowwood and Shouldice. Founded in the mid 1920s the colony lasted into the 1940s before finally disbanding....
A mishmash is a jumble of things blended together into a nice mixture. The mishmash of articles includes subjects like an old steam locomotive, an evergreen that looses its needles, rock ovens used by railway construction crews and a nice little waterfall. 1) West Canadian Collieries #1 is located near...
Bolers are small, they’re minuscule, they’re tiny in fact and this example is not all that much larger than the shopping cart and motorcycle that sit in front of it. This bone white Boler was seen in Calgary Alberta, in September 2011. Boler: A small cute-as-a-bug fibreglass travel trailer made...
Seen here is an example of a Fairbanks Morse model H16-66 locomotive. Referred to as a “Baby Trainmaster” by railway geeks, but never officially by the company that made them, this brawny engine is painted as CP Rail 7009 and is one of only two examples of this model extant....
This day has us in the very south of Kananaskis, up by the headwaters of the Oldman River, having a gas on Mt Gass. Our goal was the Galena Miracle Mine which sits along a ledge on the mountain’s north flank. Alas though the incredible winds this area is famous...
Visiting the Alberta Railway Museum near Edmonton is like dying and going to heaven for a train geek like me. Their collection is so extensive covering many different eras and railways and one day is hardly enough time to explore all the equipment on display. This museum is located just...
Not a lot of years separate these two photos but in that time the change has been dramatic. The trains are no more and the row of elevators has been reduced to one.
Down by the tracks in Arrowwood Alberta, 1997 and 2015. Interestingly the then photo is from us and this a rare case of Team BIGDoer shooting both. It was captured by Chris back when he was doing oilfield hotshot.
The last elevator standing is a former Alberta Wheat Pool facility and dates from the 1970s. That's it's fairly modern is perhaps the reason it survived into today and it's now used by a local farmer for grain storage.
Check the comments to know more 👇
Exploring history with Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie. Posted by Connie.
Spotted while documenting The Great Beater Challenge, 2021 edition! Here, it's a little diversion into the near ghost town of Orkney Saskatchewan to look at a disused Patterson Grain Elevator. The structure dates from the 1970s and was built with features foreshadowing those used in high throughput grain terminals of today. Fast load systems and the like.
Check out that vintage yield sign and we doubt it's really needed any more. There's no traffic on these streets.
BTW, we got to chase the Beater Challenge 2023 and we'll post about it soon.
Exploring history with Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie. Photo: 2021. Posted by Connie.
After we drop off a couple rolls for processing, we'll call home! A little corner pharmacy, in a nondescript Calgary strip mall, and it's sort of lost in time. Shot in 2016 and we find anachronisms like this fascinating!
Exploring history with Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie. Posted by Connie.
St Francis in the Woods out in BC's East Kootenay region dates back over a century. It's sort of hidden away down a little backroad and is far removed from the modern world. While no longer used in a spiritual capacity, it still hosts community functions from time to time. Otherwise, silence rules.
Know more about this subject in a link posted to the comments.
Exploring history with Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie. Photo: 2023. Posted by Connie.
The same stone house about a century apart and from almost the same angle. It came close to being a proper Then & Now, but interestingly, we didn't know of the old photo when we captured ours.
The house was only lived in for a few decades, starting about 1910 and abandoned on account of arid conditions.
A family of twelve (yes, two parents plus TEN kids) lived in this modest-sized dwelling. Those early pioneers were hardcore. A house in the middle of nowhere, farming conditions that at best were marginal, brutal winters, few neighbours, little of anything and a bus load of children to raise in a house the size of a garage. Give them credit!
Know more via a link in the comments.
Exploring history with Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie. Photo: 2015. Posted by Connie.
The Fort Motel in Fort MacLeod Alberta, seen in an old postcard circa 1960 and again on a quiet evening late in 2023. It's one of many old style motor-court motels in this historic town and as you can see it's little changed over time. Too bad about that sign, though. The Fort Motel first makes mention in phone directories in the early fifties.
To know about our subject scroll down to a link in the comments. Hey Lethbridge Historical Society, thought you'd like this!
Exploring history with Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie. Posted by Connie.
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