Little Crossroad Cemetery
Driving down some random Alberta backroad, as we’re apt to do when there’s time to burn, we know there’s a good probability we’ll discover something interesting. Mostly we use they type of trips as scouting missions, making notes and then following up with a return visit at some later date. Here though, such formalities are not needed, and we take in a little forgotten cemetery at a crossroads in the “Special Areas”. Yes, it’s that vast expanse of sparsely populated land out east. Almost missing it on passing, we stop and take a few moments to pay our respects. Seems the proper thing to do.
Outside Lydia (1870s-1920s), the only currently marked grave, we know not who’s here. Fences speak of others interred, and depressions mark more, but in name they remain unknown. An online search of popular cemetery databases turns up nothing. Still, a plaque at the sites tells of the land here being used for burials from the early 1910s to the mid-1940s, whereas a church also stood here for most of that time. And that’s pretty much it.
Now all that’s left is a few falling down fences, Lydia’s stone marker, and little else. There among the tall grass and unkempt grounds, a place lost. We remember, if for but for a moment, if that means anything but doubt it’s much thought of or visited. Who were these people, what’s the story. I guess we’ll never really know. Then we’re gone in a cloud of dust, and it’s only ghosts in the silence and their faint memories of a life long past.
Another similarly forgotten…
Badland’s Cemetery – for all eternity.
Short Subjects: reports that for any number of reasons are brief in nature. They might be updates to older articles, previews of posts planned or not yet published, brief snippets of things that don’t fit in anywhere else or subjects that are so obscure that information on them can’t be found. Or sometimes we just ramble on about Lord knows what.
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Date of adventure: April, 2019.
Location: Special Areas #2, AB.
Forgotten on the Alberta Plains.
There are many ghost towns across western Canada, and each one would have had at least one graveyard. Some settlements were only logging camps or mines that operated for short periods of time, and may not have ever been recognized as official locations.
I know of a couple small graveyards in remote areas that are only accessible from the railroad, and even from the train you have to know where to look. I’m sure we pass by many more that remain unseen.
Many are the dead men, to silent to be real.
We’re aware of a number of lost cemeteries. Those near permanent settlements get recorded, but as you say, in places here and gone in a flash or very remote, not always. We wonder how many folks died building the railway, only to be buried close by them promptly forgotten. Probably more than we think.
That is a profound touching photo. Reminds everyone of the hardships endured in the past.
Well said. Thanks.
Settlers tried to farm here, but the land is just too arid. People moved on, to leave only cemeteries behind.
It sure is dry country.
If this isn’t the album cover for some deperado outlaw country rock band I dont know what is.
Yes, I could see that. We’ve never shot an album cover before. Book cover yes, however.
Where is this?
In order to protect the site from vandals and such (a real BIG problem in rural areas), we can’t say anything more than the Special Areas #2. It’s sad we have to do this, but it’s the reality of it all.
May they Rest in Peace.
Amen…
I love the rustic and wild beauty of it.
It’s peaceful, even in that derelict state.
Wonder who Lydia was. Someone loved her enough to put up this tombstone. 💕
We know her name, but otherwise nothing else about her.
It makes me wonder Why??? A resident or relative could come out to this site and kinda of clean it up and maintain it once in awhile ,in respect for the ones who are buried there????
Sometimes there’s no one around to do. In the case of relatives, they may have moved on or passed away.
I like this photo SO SAD THOUGH
Very sad indeed.
Oyen ………….worst breakfast ever ! Circa 1978 . How are poached eggs greasy?
Sounds yummy!
There’s alot of graves like that all over that area
Yes, and many of them untended too.
Back home in Severn Bridge ON there is a grave near the CNR (former Grand Trunk Railway) tracks. The lady who owned the property that she sold to the GTR did so with a proviso that her grave be tended by the railway in perpetuity. To this day the CNR sends a crew out to clean up her grave site.
That’s some story! Cool.
I hope there is someone out there who remembers this place.
Someone’s out there who knows and somewhere there’s archives that speak on the subject. It’s just a matter to find them. In normal channels, the cemetery’s an unknown, but by deep searching (which takes time), I’m sure we can find a back story.
Sometimes the forgotten cemeteries can spark the most discussion! I enjoy finding these forgotten places and wonder how it came to be, or how the people who are resting there lived their lives.
These always get lots of engagement, this one in particular on Facebook. Who, what, why? All those questions!