A dome is an architectural element. Simply, think of it as the hollow upper half of a sphere or ball. Often used as the topping of a building or as a roof, many sports stadiums the world over have been built with this feature. Such an application requires large open...
It’s time for another Calgary Transit then and now. We so love doing them, they’re a ton a fun! For this one we look at two photos from 1969, taken along Elbow Drive and we visit the area to see if we can find the locations shown in those pictures....
The Ogden Hotel, aka Alyth Lodge, now Victory Manor, celebrated its 100th year recently and with some recent renovations it will hopefully be around for a long, long time to come. Once lodging for visitors to the community it was also a watering hole for those working at the nearby...
In this Calgary Transit then and now report, we first look at some decades old pictures showing buses travelling along Elbow Drive and we visit those same locations to see what remains today. The originals are from 1969 and our visit takes place early this year. The trolley buses seen...
Built in 1885 and 1904 respectively, St Paul’s and St Patrick’s are some of the oldest churches in Calgary, and some of the oldest buildings in town period. When constructed they were not even with the city limits, not even close, and were located in the independent community of Midnapore....
The transit buses that are the subject of this report are known as “Classics”. The ones seen here were built in the early 1990s and are the oldest such vehicles currently on the Calgary Transit roster. These old warriors will likely continue to serve for some time however, even in...
For this then and now, we first go back to 1978 and see an Edmonton Transit Flyer trolley bus passing by what was then the Northlands Coliseum. Fast forward to 2014 and Connie and myself visit that same spot to see what has changed in the thirty five years since...
In this Brokeback Mountain then and now, the character Jack Twist has just travelled to Mexico to hook up with a prostitute, a scene that was actually shot in Calgary. Mexico…Calgary…who’s to know? All they needed to complete this chapter in the story was a suitably seedy alley, which they...
This Trillium Trailer was spotted parked in the storage yard of a large trucking firm. This brand is by far the most common of the Boler-like trailers and confusing one with the other is an easy mistake, especially if seen from a distance. This example however is the square-shaped Jubilee...
The Elbow River is a watercourse with multiple personalities, that at times can be calm and serene or a hellish raging torrent. Spanning it, just south of downtown Calgary, is the 4th St SW (or Mission) Bridge, the subject of this then and now report. Built almost a hundred years...
In this then and now report, we look at two old photos showing Edmonton Transit trolley buses travelling along 115th Avenue and visit those same locations to see how things appear today. Like many from this series, we go in not knowing what if anything from the old photos remains....
This report has us visiting Fish Creek Provincial Park, an urban green space nestled in a valley at the south end of Calgary. One of the biggest parks in town, it’s home to a huge network of hiking trails, some of which we’ll explore this day. Our route, a combination...
In part two of this report on the Coleman Collieries processing plant, we discuss the loss of the historic loadout complex and what might be in store for the rest of the buildings left standing at the site. They are, supposedly, recognized as historically significant, but it appears that might...
I’ve been holding off writing this article for well over a month. I just wasn’t ready, I was not prepared. Thinking about the subject made me upset and writing about it would only make things worse. They did it and I’m set aback. What were they thinking? Why did it...
For this Calgary then and now post we visit St Mary’s Catholic Church and the nearby ex-CNR train station which was once a Parish hall and is now home to ballet company. The first image, from an old postcard, was take over a hundred years ago, and we visit the...
A century old in 2014 and certainly looking its age, the steam locomotive seen in this report, West Canadian Collieries #1, came to the Crowsnest Pass in 1920 and was put on display in the 1960s. Looking neglected and forgotten, and hidden away behind some trees, it sits on a...
This post has been updated and can be found here: Sleepee Teepee Blairmore Alberta. If you like the Crowsnest Pass (we sure do), check out these reports… Frank then and now. One Mine Ridge. A little more Lille and a flat car. If you’d like to know more about what...
Chris rushed in excitedly and showed me this comparison, but after a short pause, his look changed. It's that confused expression one gets just before the face-palm, when they realize something they did just doesn't add up.
One year shy of a century separates the two images but as it turns out, they're not even of the same building. The top is Westmount School and the bottom McDougall School, both in Edmonton and not far from each other.
It took this long to realize we'd been shooting at the wrong place all this time! The two schools were built in the same year and very close in design, so it's still an interesting comparison. We had a good laugh and we'll give Chris a mulligan on this one.
Looks like we're going have to head back for a do-over.
Exploring history with Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie. Photos: 1924 and 2023. Submitted by Connie.
It's amazing how many of these Canada Centennial Maples Leafs still exist out in the wild across the prairies. We could fill an album with the ones we've photographed. It seems rural folks embraced patriotism with more fervor than their urban counterparts, but that's just an observation.
This example was found in a small Saskatchewan town. When they placed this up above the community hall there was a certain optimism that's not seen now. Today, only a handful of people call the community home, and it's that close to being a true ghost town. Almost sixty years in place and this memorial to a 100 year celebration is still here.
If our readers have found any of these while out exploring, please share in the comments. We'd love to see them.
Exploring history with Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie. Photo: 2014. Submitted by Connie.
Billy Clark’s Cabin in Meadow Creek BC and it dates back over a century. Now at the local museum it formerly stood in a valley a little to east and on the shores of Duncan Lake (now Ducan Lake Reservoir).
Billy was a trapper, hunter, and woodsman. All he had was this tiny log house, a small plot of land, the surrounding wilderness, and his wits for survival. Nothing more. That spirit of self reliance seems to be a lost art today.
Exploring history with Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie. Photo: 2022. Submitted by Connie.
Both Chris and I both grew up in the malaise era for cars and get giddy when we spot one from that time out in the wild. It's like meeting an old friend. This '80s beauty was found out in a hiking area of Kananaskis and by all appearances, looks to be driven regularly.
The malaise era is marked by cars with uninspired design, quirky traits, hobbled performance and often questionable quality. Depressing stuff. This Cutlass is probably one of the better GM cars of the time, and both Chris and our son Will have owned examples in the past.
Have a malaise era story or photo to share? Post it in the comments!
Out in nature with Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie. Photo: 2023. Submitted by Connie.
We come over many rises on a the prairies and on doing so surprised by many interesting things. This one caused a double take.
This lonely locomotives sits at the then very end of track outside Leader SK and was out of service at the time. Guess they socked it away out of sight to forget about it. We found photos showing it in service the year before our visit but here it was cold and dead.
Since this photo was taken, the Great Sandhills Railway has extended the track across the road and set up some kind of transloading operation. In years passed, the track (under CP ownership) continued west all the way into Alberta, but that's a distant memory.
Exploring history with Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie. Photo: 2014. Submitted by Connie.
The messages have been coming fast and often. No, the book we produced a couple years back is not being published after all, in spite of appearing on many websites recently. Oddly some are showing it with the cover from another volume altogether. Please don't order and it must be a glitch.
The other two books shown in our capture are available however (and are awesome) and were produced by some friends. Interestingly, Chris contributed to each and those you can order.
Exploring history with Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie. Submitted by Connie.
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