Stops Along the Way…

Seen here, odd bits and pieces, random stuff abandoned in nature found while out exploring Minburn and Two Hills Counties east of Edmonton. We’re there to documented some specific subjects and these were discovered travelling between them. There’s old farms, forgotten metal, empty buildings found on some street in a backwater town, a nice mix of this and that. It’s stuff that doesn’t fit in anywhere else.

But enough…

1) A fine old church, last used many decades ago and today weather beaten and empty. It may look familiar to our viewers and was the subject of it’s own post some months back – but we found this overlooked image on a forgotten SD card and liked it, and so had to share. Read about the place here…Brush Hill Reformed

2) An abandoned farm house surrounded by Caraganas (they grow like crazy in the area). This was about the only exterior shot we could get, those invasive “weeds” otherwise obstructing the view. Broken glass is all too common. The current land owner told us the place is from the late 1910s.

3) Same place. Peeling paint and fallen plaster, the view into the kitchen. Imagine all the dinners prepared here for the family. Now, it’s all quiet.

4-5) A couple more views of the same house. Clothes still hang on hooks – eerie – but mostly the interior is empty. Pastel colours throughout add a soft glow. These are right out of the 1950s. No electrical outlets were found, nor does it appear they ever had indoor plumbing.

6-9) In the back, a bushwhack takes us to these outbuildings. There’s a fine barn, a couple granaries, sheds of various types. Some seem solid and strong, others close to collapse. The area here was once heavily treed and so many early buildings were made of logs. There were a couple on the property, with expertly made dovetail joints.

10) Sardines on the menu. There was a lot of old tins scattered about this shed.

11) Perhaps the most charming little house we’ve seen. Call it cute, quaint, on a low hill overlooking the plains, it’s painted up in soft muted colours, a light peach exterior with trim a nice pink shade (how out of the ordinary). There’s a kitchen and living room on the main floor with one claustrophobic bedroom upstairs. Cozy! The land owner thinks it from about 1920 but knows little else. We might return to the place and do a more detailed follow up story in the future. There’s something interesting here.

12) Another view. Imagine a nice old grandma calling it home. Looks like who ever lived here never had electricity or running water.

13) A Canada Year Book for 1922-1923. Other books were found here, mostly in Cyrillic. Lots of Ukranian settlers in the area, so that makes sense.

14-15) Some interior views. That rounded trim…love it!

16) The stairs leading to the bedroom. Interestingly, it was only half the size of the top floor, the rest of the space acting as an attic.

17-18) A shed out back. Looks to be a workshop of some sorts. Hanging on the wall, what’s left of a calendar advertising a lumber firm (Crown Lumber of Calgary) that hasn’t existed for eons.

19) Random outbuilding on the “cute house” property.

20) Rob Pohl’s view camera. Yes, view camera, using film, not roll film but big sheets, just like they did a hundred years ago. In today’s modern world? Strange? Yes, but the results are impressive. His stuff is shown in galleries all over. We hang out often on these trips – fun to be with interesting people and he’s one of them. Takes him about ten to fifteen minutes to set up and capture a photo – so he got off one pic before we had to rush off to other places we had scheduled. This was an unplanned stop.

21-24) A good sized barn made from a mix of hewn wood, rough timbers and raw logs. It’s built into the side of a hill and sadly is collapsing.

25-26) A former gas station/store in the tiny community of Hairy Hill Alberta. Thirty five cents a litre gas…yes please! This price tells us the place last operated in the 1980s.

27) One of several old stores or businesses on main street in the same town. Hairy Hill? It was said lots of bison hair was found in the area. Now you know!

28) We think the last operating business in the burg, Hillside Sports (snowmobiles, ATVs) which lasted into the late 1980s (we think), before moving to another larger town in the region and taking on a new name.

29) In the grass, an old bike. Wheelless, riderless, it’ll never move again.

30) Hairy Hill’s Community Hall, still used from time to time.

31) Beware of dog? Really? Where? We were hoping to check out the house in back, but this army of angry pooches would have no part of it. There was more of them on the other side of our ride.

32) Detail shots, something we don’t do enough of. I think that needs to change.

33) Another log building. There’s still a lot of trees in the area, but back when this building was constructed, by hand of course, there were vast tracts of forest here. Now it’s mostly farmer’s fields.

34) Inside a two room school, near collapse. Trees growing wild around it meant this was the only view.

35) An International R series pickup, circa 1953-1955. This brand of truck was popular in rural areas, especially so in the 1940s and 1950s and could be bought and serviced at your local farm equipment dealer. Door sign! This one displays an old style five digit phone number (these were phased out in the 60s) and once belonged to a Calgary firm, but their name was blanked out. They operated out of the “Stockyard Building” however.

More from the general area…
Peeling Paint and Lace Curtains.
St Elias (an abandoned monastery).
1915 Cement House.

If you wish more information on what you’ve seen here, by all means contact us!

Date: November, 2016.
Location: Minburn and Two Hills Counties, AB.
BIGDoer.com either got permission to enter properties or shot from public spaces.

1) At a lonely crossroad, Brush Hill Reformed Church.

2) A brief stop at some abandoned farm.

3) Paint peeling, plaster crumbling, a view into the kitchen.

4) Ratty old clothes still hang on the wall.

5) Pastel colours add a soft glow.

6) Out back…

7) A fine barn.

8) Crumbling outbuildings.

9) Many old log structures in the area.

10) They must have loved sardines – lots of these scattered about.

11) A charming little house – we may come back to this one.

12) Cute comes to mind.

13) Canada Year Book 1922-1923.

14) Quaint…another way to describe it.

15) The view from the main room.

16) Stairs lead up to a single bedroom.

17) In behind, a little shed.

18) And inside, a calendar from a long defunct company.

19) Random outbuildings.

20) Rob Pohl’s view camera.

21) Down some backroad, this good sized barn.

22) It’s sort of built into the hill.

23) Hewn wood and rough logs.

24) Expect it’s not long for this world…

25) The former gas station/store at Hairy Hill Alberta.

26) Like those prices!

27) One of a number of empty stores or businesses in town.

28) The last to close, we believe.

29) Forgotten in the grass…

30) Say it fast three times…Hairy Hill Hall!

31) Understatement of the year!

32) The detail shot…we don’t do enough like this.

33) Some old log building, constructed long ago.

34) The view out – inside a two room school.

35) In retirement, this 1950s International Pickup.