Loverna SK Then & Now (x2)

Here’s a pair of Then & Nows that somehow got lost for a time and while produced back in 2017, they’ve not seen the light of day until now. Presenting not one, but two of these wonderful comparison studies and the subject is Loverna Saskatchewan, a near ghost town. The first takes us back perhaps a few decades and shows one corner of the community and the change that’s taken place.

The second comparison spans maybe a hundred years and looks at downtown in a more broad view and how it’s differed over that time. Let’s say the transformation’s dramatic. On a street once bustling with life in a town with a future bright, today it’s the odd building left, vacant lot after vacant lot and precious little else.

While it’s taken a record amount time for these to be published (even by our sloooow standards), we’re certain you’ll enjoy them and consider the wait well worth it.

The first “Then” shows two buildings just off Main Street, the Monarch Garage and Legion Hall. These are from 1917 and 1946 respectively. We don’t know the date of the first photo, but we suspect it’s fairly contemporary and our guess the 1970s-1980s period. Update: turns out the early 1990s, so were off a bit – more info further down.

The Monarch stood until recently, but the pumps seen in front were long gone before that. These appear to be 1950s models and presumably the business had those gravity feed pumps earlier. What a fine looking building and that sign is amazing! Interestingly a road ran past the Monarch, to its right, which appears at the time well used but now no longer there.

It’s clear the business had been shut down for a time in the original photo. The White Rose brand of gas ceased to be available after the mid-1960s, so the Monarch may have closed sometime before. An ancient poster in the Loverna Community Hall shows the garage offered “genuine Ford parts”.

The second building is the Canadian Legion (Sask branch #91). It remained in use into the 2000s (wow) when it’s said they had a membership of about twenty, but now it’s closed. Suspect all the old timers simply died off.

From the Saskatchewan Legion Website: “Over the years, the Loverna Legion has taken an active part in the Loverna Community by showing picture shows, helping maintain the Loverna Cenotaph, having Remembrance Day Services, holding Christmas Parties, putting on Golf Tournaments, having Mothers’ Day Breakfasts, holding card tournaments, both Whist and Kaiser and attending funerals for deceased Veterans and Legion members.”

These two pics lined up pretty nice!

The “then” photo came anonymously and had no accompanying information other than it once belonged to a deceased family member. When this happens it sets off an alarm and so we do some research in case it’s not theirs to share. Here we could not find a copyright, so it may be open to challenge. We always strive to have proper permission when publishing these and if our readers know something, please speak up an we’ll address the matter.

Update April 2024: the original photographer has come forward and confirmed our suspicions. He has graciously allowed continued use and let’s all thank Philip Brown for his kindness. It’s a great shot, captured on a slide, and really helps round out this post. Philip confirmed the date and admittedly, we were off a bit in our estimation – early ’90s.

The second sets shows “downtown” Loverna with the “Then” coming from our fiends at Priaire-Towns.com. This one is in the public domain. The old photo shows a lively (and muddy) street lined with many businesses and if you look close you can see a good number of people. This was when Loverna was happening, so before the long slow decline. We’re not sure the date, but sometime around 1920 would be a reasonable guess. The town dates from the early 1910s, incidentally, when the railway came through.

At the end of Main, where it meets 1st Avenue (what, no Main & Railway?) it’s the Grand Trunk Pacific station (Canadian National after 1920-ish) and the Security Grain Elevator. Both buildings date back to the town’s founding. Security had a modest network of elevators on the prairies and ceased to be as a company in 1929 when it got bought out by a competitor. To see the last Security Elevator still standing, at Calgary’s Heritage Park, go here: For Jim….

The car on the left might be a mid-1910s or earlier Ford Model T. On close inspection there looks to be a wagon and horse team further back hiding in the shadows same side of the street.

Fast forward to today and it’s a view devoid of life. What change! Most of the buildings of old have been torn down over the years and others lost to fire. The few left standing include a former general store and a laundry. Scattered about are plaques marking the location of business and such that today are empty lots. It’s amazing how much used to be here – jewellery stores, banks, liveries, hardware stores, cafes, pool halls, hotels and so much more.

The sloped-roof building seen today could not be made out in the old photo. Is it hidden by the clutter, unrecognizable due to the pic being fuzzy, or did it come later? In any case, we’re not convinced this T&N lined up well. Had to guess given we had no solid reference points.

The trains stopped running in the 1980s and by then, the town had but a handful of people. Today, the full time population can be described with the words “a few”. Here’s a post showing the town in more detail: Forgotten Prairie Loverna (note, we had permission to go into some buildings which otherwise are closed.) In addition the community also makes an appearing is this fantastic film (starring Team BIGDoer – YEAH!!!!): Forgotten Prairie.

And the truck? Because it’s big, it’s old (1940s) and most of all because it’s YELLOW!

Many of the then photos used in these articles are supplied by our readers. If you have a picture you think would be good fodder for a T&N, message us. The only consideration is they need to be your photos (you hold copyright) or be in the public domain (many real old photos are). If unsure, we can help.

And wouldn’t you know, on finding this forgotten Then & Now, we discovered a few others from that same year that have never been seen before. Isn’t that cool? And doesn’t it speak of how rotten our memory has become? We can recall with great clarity what we did on March 27, 1981, but can’t remember a thing we did yesterday. Stay tuned for these. It’s nice to get back into the swing of things with this ongoing series and we ignored them for a time.

If you visit Loverna, please show the old town respect. Take only photos and remember some people live there, so give them their space. If we all follow common sense rules, places like this will be around for us to all enjoy for a long time. Loverna, and all our vanishing prairie towns, are a treasure to be protected.

Till the next Then & Now, here’s to fun & adventure!

They’re saying…

”They have no fear when it comes to searching in remote areas, and they have an artistic eye for picture taking. It’s a very enjoyable site.” James Robinson.

More like this..
Stettler Alberta Then & Now: Stettler Hotel – that’s one cool place!
Calgary then and now – Civil Defence – duck & cover!
Calgary then and now – Miles for Millions – sore feet time.

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

Date of Adventure: April, 2017.
Location: Loverna, SK.
Article references and thanks: Photographer Philip Brown for the original gas station photo, Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan, CNR archives, Saskatchewan Legion and casual conversations with locals.

Loverna SK, early 1990s & 2017 – original © Philip Brown.

And here circa 1920 and again 2017.

The old Legion Hall.

The last buildings in downtown.

Marking what used to be.

It’s big, it’s old, it’s YELLOW!