Eastern Alberta Abandonment
On more than a few occasions we’ve been accused of being, ahem, a little “long winded”. We hear it all the time in fact…”more pics, less words”, or some such thing. Most say it nice and gently and we can accept that, even if at a personal level we don’t get it. Others however have been a bit blunt…“Shut the f**k up!” What, not all the messages we get are “fan mail”? I know, who’d have guessed? We laugh it off. But still, these are the vocal ones and damn, this is what they’re saying.
An experiment, a post where the words will be few and the pics take centre stage. No writing, no history, no storytelling, just photos of old abandoned stuff. Easy for us, all we had to do was snap away and put them up. It feels lazy, it feels hollow, but here it is for your enjoyment.
These images…been holding on to them for the better part of a year. They’re pretty good, but they never seemed to really fit anywhere and we struggled to put them to use. Now they have a purpose I guess. Taken in the fall of 2016, in Cypress County and the “Special Areas” out near Medicine Hat, random shots from a busy weekend.
Speak up…more like this?
At a remote crossroad, Gnadenfelt Cemetery.
Lots of German sounding names here.
An outhouse – the moon and stars!
This abandoned barn under threatening skies.
Seventh Day Cemetery this way.
Bader, a name that shows up a lot at Seventh Day.
“At Rest….”
The property is overgrown and seems forgotten.
A quaint old farm house.
Windows are intact – vandals usually make short work of them.
A welcoming light on a cold Alberta night…
A peek inside…
A modest sized dwelling – today most garages are as big.
Poking our head inside a shed…
Back when everyone dried on the line.
So much character.
Trademark yellow jacket – check, always present toque – check. With Jason Sailer.
The little details…
Ogilvie Flour Mills, Medicine Hat, a massive structure.
More little details…
St Wolodymyr Ukrainian Orthodox Church looks like a shed.
And damn, is it remote, access in via a cow path.
In the cemetery.
It was still and quiet on our visit.
A fall day with gorgeous blue skies.
Headstones show Cyrillic writing.
The Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Oyen brought here and buried.
Barn wood thieves have been at it again.
The old stove remains while the house is stripped away.
And ancient auger.
And old one room school turned farm building.
More posts from this same trip….
Zion Luthern Church.
Downtown Hilda.
The Howe Place.
If you wish more information on what you’ve seen here, by all means contact us!
Date: October, 2016.
Location: Special Area 3 and Cypress County, AB
Article references (and thanks): Jason and Becky Sailer, our tour guides.
Everything see was shot from public property and was visited with permission.
Hi Chris.
The occasional post with minimal text and more photos are ok, but I like the ones where you and Connie write your souls out. Like mentioned, the photos are great but the research and information is what counts in the end.
Glad you finally posted the photos! Was a great day!
Thanks for your input Jason, it’s appreciated. We’ve heard from a fair number of people and most seem to like the current format. Agreed, what a fun trip. Such great memories. Just never knew what to do with the pics.
How you’ve been doing them all these years is just right! Keep the words flowing.
Perfect. That’s what we hoped to hear. But we’ve been getting no feedback, so weren’t sure.
More words! More words!
Understood. We’ll keep them coming!
Don’t stop writing!
We won’t. Just wondered if were being too long winded. Most are saying no to that.
Long winded? We have met in person a few times and I have a hard time getting any words out of you.
As in long winded in my writing. You saw the person me, who’s quiet, humble and quite honestly a tad bit shy. There’s two sides to me. Thanks for the comment!
Just having a bit of fun. I thoroughly enjoyed our prior meetings. You have an excellent website, everything is very well done. I like the idea of a post where the photos “speak” for themselves. Sometimes less is more.
Of course, I know you well enough. I struggle with that less is more thing. I get it but it feels wrong for some reason. See myself as lazy if I don’t do a proper (for me) write up. I need Dr Phil!
Hi BigDoer! I like your photos and your stories, but nothing wrong with switching it up from post to post. I do that, a longer story or sometimes mostly photos.
These are all great photos!
Thanks, we get so little feedback in regards to this that we never know for sure how to approach it. I liked how the pics turned out too. Sat on them for far too long!
Pictures are always nice, but it’s the words that keep me coming back. No one is writing about these places but you.
Thanks for sharing this. Most who’ve responded seem to share this same sentiment. Which makes us happy!
Yes please don’t quit writing because we all need you.
Wasn’t planning on quitting outright, just wondering if our articles were too long. Too much to read.
My opinion? More like this – with less photos per post – so more posts. 🙂
So less images more words? If I’m reading that right you are the only one to ask for fewer pics. Interesting! Thanks for commenting, it’s appreciated.
Hi, Chris. I’m one of the ones who enjoys your accounts, stories, information, etc. plus photos. I think it would be a great pity if you gave very little information. Various times, I have copied and pasted part of a description and added it under one of my photos on Flickr – ALWAYS adding a link to your post on your website!! The latest was under a photo yesterday or the day before, showing Sharples grain elevator that I visited again several days ago.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/annkelliott/36950892860/in/dateposted-public/
Would have loved even more info (if there is any available anywhere) about the abandoned miners’ camp between Sharples and Carbon. A farmer at Sharples had told me about the old house further along and, of course, I just had to go and see it (just from the road, needless to say, lol). Thanks for all your fascinating blogs – love them!
Anne, so very nice to hear from you. Thanks for the kind words and the mentions, it’s all greatly appreciated. The negative people have been really vocal lately which has been worrisome. So nice to hear from someone with something good to say. Awesome photo there of Sharples. In regards to coal mining – there was indeed a fair amount of that activity going on in the valley between those two towns, almost exclusively on the south side and we have information on every one of them (continue the convo or message if you want to know more) . Doesn’t seem to any signs of these left. If you private message me the location told to you, I can confirm if it fits with any of those operations. Have a great weekend!