
Serving up POP HISTORY & other McFun!…
(Mmmm, yummy bite-sized pieces.)
Kenopsia: "the eerie atmosphere of a place that's usually bustling with people but now vacant or abandoned."
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Johanna (Connie) Biggart:
St Peter and Paul Church 1918
Anonymous:
Radio Shack Westbrook Mall (Calgary)
Anonymous:
Ghost Railways: Fort Macleod Alberta
Anonymous:
Berte Georgeโs Williamโs Grocery Lethbridge
Rob Pohl & Arturo Pianzola:
Union Bay (Vancouver Island) Coal Wharf
Rob Pohl & Arturo Pianzola:
1 Day: Denman & Hornby Islands (BC)
Wilfrid Lambo:
Crossley Slides: A Corner in Erlton
Rob Pohl & Arturo Pianzola:
Ioco Port Moody BC (Ghost Town)
Anonymous:
Historic Fort Macleod After Hours
Anonymous:
Ghosts of the Crowsnest Subdivision
Franco Media:
Moose Jaw SK Train Station (~90 Yrs Apart)
Anonymous:
Kart World or Kart Gardens? (2014)
Ross Hamilton:
Prairie Sentinels: Cadillac Sask
Anonymous:
Dominion Bridge Calgary (Ramsay) ca1960-2014
John Kinnear:
World of F.E.A.R Figure-8 (Abandoned)
Dale:
Forgotten Coal Town Cemetery
- Boler! (95)
- Exploring History (251)
- Hikes And Summits (124)
- Old Things (48)
- Other Fun (114)
- Short Subjects (151)
- Then And Now (104)
- Uncategorized (3)
- The old photo has the caption: "Testing irrigation equipment" & is dated 1911.
- City records shows the three houses are from 1912, so there's a little date conflict here.
- The old General Hospital (number 3) is the large building, background left. It's from 1910 & was replaced by the 1950s.
A bigger image of the houses is included in the comments.
Be sure to cheer on the Team & make some noise in the comments!
Photo credit: UofCalgary Archives.
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Thanks from both of us!
Exploring history with Chris & Connie from Off the Beaten Path. Be sure to cheer on the Team & make some noise in the comments!
The road is much improved now (so paved), & many sketchy sections have been bypassed. It's been a while since we drove it & we may have to pay it a revisit to find the locations Crossley photographed.
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Thanks from both of us!
We (sort of) knew the fellow that used to make those happy mannequins. You can't help giggle at the sight of them and be creeped out at the same time.
Exploring history with Chris & Connie from Off the Beaten Path. Be sure to cheer on the Team & make some noise in the comments!
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Thanks from both of us!
In the first photo construction of the building had just been completed. It's been empty for over eighty years now but still seems quite solid and square. Check out another photo from 2021 in the comments.
Photo credit: unknown
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Thanks from both of us!
With the building of the Libby Dam in Montana in the late 1960s, a stretch (built in the 1890s) had to be abandoned. Subsequently, a bypass route was built & it's a little to the east of this position on dry land. We could hear trains, but not see them.
Depending on lake levels, this former railbed can be high & dry or almost submerged. We even found one old photo where it's completely under water. The water is not that deep here & when dry, the grassy flats all around are used for cattle grazing.
More: https://www.BIGDoer.com/59113/exploring-history/ghosts-of-the-cprs-southern-mainline/ Thanks to Don Wilson for helping keep the lights on here. Photo 2022.
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Exploring history with Chris & Connie from Off the Beaten Path.
Thanks from both of us!
#historylover #historynerd #historyphotographed #abandonedrails #koocanusa #chrisandconnie #offthebeatenpath #bigdoer
We're out in Newell County Alberta. The location was confirmed via production notes & stills, plus with the assistance of locals. There's no way of knowing if we're on the exact spot, but it's very, very close. Note the berm, which could be the one built in the film. Our photo is from 2013 & it was a good walk to get to the site.
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Exploring (obscure) history with Chris & Connie from Off the Beaten Path.
Thanks from both of us!
Comments are (OFF)
- Chris Doering on Reach Us!
- Patrick Keck on Reach Us!
- Chris Doering on Few Words: The Cutest Little Farm House
- Eric May on Few Words: The Cutest Little Farm House
- Chris Doering on Old Slocan Highway by the Lake
- Chris Doering on Bow River Loop: Inglewood – Carburn Park
- Jason Sailer on Bow River Loop: Inglewood – Carburn Park
- Jason Sailer on A Few Minutes in Stavely Alberta
- Jason Sailer on Old Slocan Highway by the Lake
- Jason Sailer on Forced Perspective The Calgary Tower
- Chris Doering on Few Words: A Catalogue Home?
- Chris Doering on Prairie Sentinels: Fort MacLeod Alberta
Hi – I hope is message gets to you. I have several photographs – 8″ x 10″ black and white, of the Bow City Alberta coal mine, and some of the machinery used in that era. The photos are from the 40s -50’s. I will share them with you. You can contact me at xxxxxxxxx@xxx.ca.
Dianne
Hi Dianne, got your email and will message you. Very interested. You’ll hear from me soon.
Hi;
Nice web page. My grandfather was a miner in Blairmore till 1919.
I’d like to one day go there and search out the mine (if I can find it).
The photos you have on your web page are beautiful. Thank you for
sharing and all the time you put into everything.
Josie
If you need help tracking something down, we’d be happy to help. We know the Crowsnest area well, in particular when it comes to mines.
Hello:
Thank you for your response. All that I know about my grandfather (Pietro Mancini aka Peter) is what I was told about. His son told me that he could hear his father’s boots on the pavers when he neared the house and they would hide, since he was so very abusive. The house was still up in the 1960’s and was yellow block or concrete. I just assumed my grandfather was
close enough to the coal mine to walk home. His son told me in the 1990’s that they would go swimming nearby in the “Old Man River” and they’d wear gunny-sacks. He said that they could see the mountains from their home and he told me they called them the “Three Sisters”. In 1918 my uncle’s mother died in childbirth. His father (my grandfather) went to Italy and re-married and upon returning to Blairmore the police were looking for him, since he had abandoned all his children and they were sent to orphanages (Calgary or Edmonton ?). He was a mason also (I have some of his paper work). He and my grandmother fled by night over the U.S.A. boarder and got to Detroit, MI where my mother was born in 1921.
I’ve just always been curious and have planned one day to go to Blairmore.
From your photos, Alberta looks just so beautiful. Thank you again for your response. I hope to visit one day and see the coal mines.
He died in Detroit in 1944 (born in 1877 in Italy) of stomach cancer, which I think is prevalent with coal miner.
Thank you for your time.
Josie
Can’t understand why some people are abusive. The Oldman River is not in the immediate area and is too far north. However, I’ve heard a couple old timers refer to the Crowsnest River, which does pass through Blairmore, mistakenly by that name. Hmmmmm, an eye-brow raiser. There is a Seven Sisters Mountain in the area. One can find a Three Sisters much further north near a community called Canmore. Interestingly, it was a coal town too. Yes, coal mining and lung problems went hand in hand. Many died from the black stuff. I’ll send you an email to see if you want me to look into this further.
Thank you for your reply and time.
Josie
Email sent. Have a great day.
Hi I understand that you rewire rotary phones? Is this correct?
Anyway I want to buy an old phone and I was wondering if I send it to you can you fix it.
Also how much does it cost to fix it?
Thank you for your time!
Chelsea
Yes, old phones are my specialty. I’ll email you about this.
Hi, Chris and Connie,
I know Harry Sanders, a historian in Calgary, he works for Chinook Historic Society and other organizations, you can contact him or Chinook Historian Society or go to his website or Chinook Historic Society website, maybe you can get some information useful to you.
University of Calgary has an archeology or similiar bachelor major, its graduates often find jobs in some organization related to history/archeology.
I read a lot of articles in your website, it is really nice of you. I believe all hiking/outdoor persons must be good guys.
I come from China, I have been doing a lot of hikings and travels both in China, Canada and other countries.
Good luck
Ming
Thanks for posting Ming! I can use this info.