Tag: abandoned houses

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IT WAS ONCE THE MITCHELL’S

Back to that day when Christian and I went out, one of the first houses we stopped at on our venture was this one.

Visible from the road, this was an easy stop. After fiddling around with my camera for a bit we got ourselves on the other side of the trees.

This big old two story house with the missing door upstairs wouldn’t want to be something I came across at night time. I wasn’t at all freaked out here but with the dead trees in the front, I could see how one would be.

The history I found on this homestead is not of the original homesteaders. That is of course somewhat disappointing to me but its better than nothing. That being said, here we go. The second homesteader of this land immigrated to Canada in 1903. Born in 1881 in Country Cork, Ireland, he moved to the area and married in 1908. Having worked for many farmers in the area and renting land to farm, he moved from the land he originally lived on and in 1921 eventually moved to Neepawa. In 1927, Mrs. passed away and he came back to the area.

In April, 1928 to be exact, the family moved back to Elgin, Manitoba but he again rented land. It wasn’t until 1942 that him and his children moved to this homestead.

Mr. retired from farming in 1951 at the age of 70 and moved to Brandon where he lived until he passed away in 1964. Mr. and his wife raised 6 children on various farms in the area as well as in Neepawa. Upon Mr.’s retirement, his youngest son and his wife took over this farm and raised their family here.

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DUBLIN CASTLE

While photographing my neighbors house, my eagle eyed husband spotted another on the same section of land. Within a short visit and a tad bit of history about the house, we headed out through a field, over the tracks to this home that is now pasture land.

There were tons of photo ops on this property given an abundance of dead wood. I headed straight toward the house while Cade and Makenna wandered around.

This half section of land was owned by the brother of my neighbors now house. William received this land as a young man but within a few years of farming here, in 1919 to be exact, he moved to British Columbia. Over time the property was inherited to his brother.

We were told by the landowner that a good trail was made to the house through a field/swampy area and over the train tracks to the gate. She had recently been removing boards from the home and taking them back to their current home for projects.

The house was by no means safe to enter. The plaster on the inside walls is giving away and there are heaps and heaps of it everywhere. You may also notice the way the house is leaning inwards. It will eventually give in and collapse into the basement.

Mrs. told us that many, many years ago, the ancestors of her husband hauled this house to this location by horse. The home got stuck and the men had to hire the help of more horses to finally bring this home to its final resting spot.

I have to admit that this exploring trip was likely one of my favorite so far. Our intention was to head to our neighbors house, then head down to the remains of a stone church and then head home. We didn’t get to the church but off the top of my head I photographed at least 8 or 9 houses that day and got just as many leads for future exploring and shooting adventures.