Tag: Abandoned Manitoba

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THE DONLEY’S

Oh, this has been a tough one to wrap my head around but, I promised myself that I would not go out and photograph more properties until I dealt with the ones I had already taken, so….

Born in 1853, Mr. came to Manitoba as a young man from Ontario and purchased this land in 1881 for both surface and mineral rights.  In 1892 he purchased the SW 1/4 with surface rights only.

This photo was taken back in December during the Christmas break.  Looking at this photo now, I am actually impressed with the quality given that it was taken from the road, with the 600mm lens, hand held.  I must have had steady hands that day!

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His wife Susan arrived in Canada in 1882.  She lived with her brothers around the Brandon area and then headed down towards Souris to live with another.  Soon thereafter she met Mr. and they married in 1884.

As a couple they went through all the trials of an early pioneer family.  They lost their home to fire in the early 1900’s and were forced to live with neighbors until their home was rebuilt.  In 1906 their lost their 19 year old daughter to Brain Fever.  Conditions that may now be described as brain fever include encephalitis, meningitis, cerebritis or scarlet fever.

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Mr. accepted a position as the secretary-treasurer for the RM.  He was also a police magistrate and would act as an arbiter and then Judge.  Often, infuriated citizens would enter his office only to leave as his friend.  Mr. was said to be a a wise man.  He was part of a committee who pledged to build the local community hall.  On top of that, he was also the secretary treasurer for the local school.

A staunch Conservative, Mr. suffered a stroke while at the polling stations in 1923 and later developed pneumonia.  He died on June 29th.  Mrs. went to live with her son until her death in 1947.

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I cannot confirm when this house was built, if this family ever lived in it or if it was the second owners of this land that built the home.

On the day I visited this property for the second time, it was windy and cold and I walked through sometimes knee high snow to get a better shot of this house.

I’m not sure that I won’t go back there again for yet another look.

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REVISITING AN OLD FAVE

Back in February, on a beautiful sunny and mild day, I went out.  Just my camera and I.  It was just what I needed.  On my way home I thought I’d check for another place when I decided to check out an old favourite of mine, in the winter.

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This house was one of the very first contacts I made and I often think I’d like a re-do of the first shots that I took because of the growth I’ve made in my photography.  I may have to put it back on my to-do list.

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JOHN & ANNIE

James was born in Ireland in 1828.  In 1848 he immigrated to Ontario where he met Elizabeth.  They married in 1850.  Elizabeth is said to be the sister of Walt Disney’s Grandfather.  James and Elizabeth moved to Manitoba in 1889.    James was a wheelwright and Elizabeth wove carpets.  Together they had 10 children.

Their son John married Annie and together they had 6 children.  In 1902 they built their second home on this land, this stone home.  Before the family moved in, Annie painted the kitchen with a high gloss white enamel oil paint.  She died a few days later of lead poisoning.  This was a devastating loss to the family.  For many years their oldest daughther stepped in to help her father raise the younger children with the help of her aunt from Ontario.  In 1908 John remarried.

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In 1918 John and his second wife retired to the nearby town and John’s son Cliff took over the farm and the old stone home.  John helped Cliff on the farm and two years after his retirement, John was killed in a binder accident.

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In 1939 Cliff sold the farm and moved to Brandon where he worked as a carpenter and operated the Four Star Theatre at Rivers, Manitoba.  Cliff died at 62 years of age.

This beautiful field stone home still stands tall and was occupied up until a few years ago.  Rumor has it that the large home is very expensive to heat and decided to move.

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GRAHAM HOMESTEAD

James, born in 1841 in Mitchell, Ontario migrated to Manitoba on June 8th, 1881.  When leaving Ontario, he sold 50 acres of land. He had 9 children with his wife Jane.  When they arrived in Portage la Prairie, he purchased a team of oxen and a Red River cart.  He left his family in Portage.

Upon his arrival at Palmer’s Landing he was given a list of homesteads.  Because he was out of food he went back to the crossing with some other people and they advised him of homesteads of where his land is still farmed to this day.  Upon his arrival he needed to walk to Deloraine to make entry for the land.   His hired man stayed behind to break the land.

They homesteaded on this piece of land that I found while wandering. James passed in 1937 and his wife Jane in 1932.  Their son Samuel took over the farm until 1945 when him and his wife retired to Brandon.

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I thought the red barn and blue skies looked sharp together along this field of corn that seemed to go on forever so I stopped for a couple roadside shots.  Digging around for a little more history, I was thrilled to find some information on the barn.

In the winter of 1884 three of his children and his wife had diptheria when they lost one little girl.

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Samuel’s nephew took over the farm in 1946 and his son now farms the land.

When Jack & Jane moved to Manitoba, they first lived in a tent and then a soddy.  The original home is no longer on the property.  What remains is the barn, built in 1898 consisting of a 8 foot high field stone foundation.  The logs were dragged to the farm from the Turtle Mountains.

The family hauled their firewood from the Souris River, 8 or 9 miles away.

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While the photography is therapeutic for me, I can’t tell you how much I love being able to come home and find a history on something that caught my attention.  Imagining his trek to this piece of land and breaking this land by hand to earn a living to feed his family.  Love the history.

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MARGARET CONCRETE ARCH BRIDGE

Constructed between 1916 and 1917 using day labour, at a cost of about $6,000, this abandoned concrete arch bridge is situated in the RM of Prairie Lakes, Manitoba.

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Now over a hundred years old and recently under the extreme pressure of a winter run off, the bridge remains at the edge of their small community and is used as a foot bridge.

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The remains of a former concrete culvert bridge sits below it.

 

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CLEARWATER

Remember that trip I took to the old abandoned town on New Years Eve when I almost turned around and abandoned mission?  The one I’ve been posting about for the last week?  How many finds am I up to now?  Ya, I’ve lost track too.

Well this is one that I could access from the road so I got it on the way back home as the sun was setting and the fog was lifting.

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As I was playing around with different lenses and angles I thought, this house looks familiar.  Well sure enough, when I got home, it was a house that I had been trying to find in the area.  It wasn’t really in the area that the original poster said it was but regardless I found it.  As I did not have permission to enter the property and I do not have an RM map for this area, I cannot provide a history of the property.

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THE LONG WAY

Before Christmas Colton and I headed up to Birtle for a hockey game.  I thought I would take highway 83 as the 511 app showed good highways and I figured this would eliminate the zig zagging on the highways.  Well, it was icy and the closer we got to Birtle, the foggier it got.

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This was a real piss off as I had hoped to get some photographs of the old residential school for an upcoming unit at school AND I was going to head up to an old stone mansion about 20 kms from the rink.  Nope.  Mother Nature had other plans.

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I did find a lot of potential photo ops along the way and did stop for a couple shots of this one as it was right alongside the highway.  This is also when I discovered that the highway was very icy, even though it didn’t look like it while I was cruising along.

I didn’t even bother to look up a history.

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LOOK JUST A LITTLE BIT HARDER

I have driven by this place over and over and over again.  You see, there is something else at this location that likely grabs the attention of many when they drive by.  Yesterday as the sun was setting, I was trying to get the perfect sunset shot so I drove down this road and wow, jackpot.

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I wanted to caputure what I found and I will definately be going back to shoot all of the glorious buildings on this old farmstead.  In the meantime I will be making the proper arrangements to locate and speak to the owner and get back to it.

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Goes to show that you never know what is in that clump of trees!

Today I had every intention of getting out again to knock off another 5 or 6 properties off my list but the sky wasn’t to my liking and its given me a chance to update, research and orgainze the finds I found yesterday.

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THE LONESOME ROAD

Yesterday on my travels, on the gravel road that I never thought would end, I came upon this little house.

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The yard is still used but as you can see, the house is pretty grown over.  I didn’t wander over to the other side as this is as close I could get without having permission to enter.

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HALLGRIM THE ONE-HANDED

The Great-Great Grandfather of this land owner was known as the “Hallgrim the one-handed” and was lost at sea in 1873.

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My eagle-eyed husband spotted this house from the highway on our way to photograph another home in Cypress.  Fortunately, I had my maps and was able to locate the landowner and was granted permission to have a look around and photograph.

Originating from Vik, Flateyardal in Northern Ireland, “one-handed”‘s son immigrated to Canada in 1873.  Born in 1844 and passing on in 1936, he travelled to Halifax with his wife whom died giving birth to their first child.  He remarried and lived in Ontario and North Dakota.  He lost his second wife and when he re-married they settled in the RM of Argyle in 1919.

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His Grandson, AO was born in 1917 in Edmonton.  AO with his parents, JA and GK, they settled in Winnipeg.  JA, like his father, shared a love of music and while living in Winnipeg, played at the Rialto Theatre.  The family then moved to Los Angeles, California for a short time where JA pursued his love of music.   JA passed away in 1923 and shortly thereafter AO and his mother and sibling moved back to Manitoba.

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If you look off into the trees, you will see a small body of water.  I imagine that in its prime, this was a beautiful piece of property and a glorious place to raise a family.  Off in the fields and towards the water were a couple pieces of old farming equipment.

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During our visit to this property, we were in the prime of deer hunting season and the land owner warned us to please be careful as there were people that were given permission to hunt in and around the property.  I had my bright pink winter coat on and Cade & Makenna both had orange vests along.

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The home still had curtains and personal effects inside.  There was a large hole chewed in the basement door so I decided not to go inside to look around.

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AO enlisted in WWII in Winnipeg and trained in Brandon.  He served in Italy, England, France and Holland.  After the war he came back to Manitoba and purchased this quarter section of land.

In 1955 he married.  They resided on the property until 1978 with their 3 children.

I very much enjoyed this old car.  I could not believe that most of the glass was still intact.  While there was nothing left of the seats, I’m sure it kept many a mouse warm in the years that it has been parked by this tree.

 

 

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SNOWFLAKE, MANITOBA

Being on holidays and with the beautiful weather we’ve had, I had to get out and get some of my must see buildings off my to-do list.  I thought I’d venture out to the abandonded town of Snowflake, Manitoba.

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As I got closer and closer, it got foggier and foggier and I one point, or two, I contemplated turning around.  When I realized it was further than I thought and there was about 16 kms of gravel to travel, I thought about it again.

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I pushed through and while I’m not happy with the photos, its done.  There really is nothing left in the town even though I’m sure there are 3 families living within the town, two just on the outskirts.

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There was even a lit , neon open sign in an old shop in a business close to this one.

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When the railway line into Snowflake was abandoned, the writing was on the wall for this small town in south-central Manitoba.

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Border Branch No. 207 of the Royal Canadian Legion, originally founded at Snowflake in 1947, surrendered its charter in 1986 and its war memorial, built in 1961, was moved to La Riviere in 2006.

The Snowflake School was closed in 1992 and while I didn’t see it on my drive through the town, I did find this.

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The United Church closed in 1994.  Snowflake’s unmaintained roads and buildings bear testament to the gradual decline of this once-thriving farming community.

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What I gather was once a busy town, enterwined with town folks and farms just along its outskirts, there was no evidence of anyone there today.

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One home I drove by looked new and another, which I initially thought was also abandonded, was not.

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This barn was the first building I came across as I entered the town off the highway.  The main road was snow covered and shale covered.

A fellow abandonded photographer advised me to be sure I drove a little further, so that I didn’t miss the beauitful old mansion.

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As I did not have permission to enter any of these properties, today’s trip was all road side photography.

Maybe most exciting for the town at the time was that this is the home town of NHL’er, Justin Falk.  Drafted 110th overall in 2007, he was born October 11, 1988.  I’m sure the sign on the highway once proudly displayed his name.  It is faded and unreadable now.

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THE BOAR HOUSE

This house has been on my list for some time.  There’s a good chance you’ve seen it before.  I will tell you that as of yesterday, November 23rd, the owner called me to make sure I had been out there as he was burning it down!  Cade and I are heading to Winnipeg this week and it’ll be different not seeing it there.

A month ago when we had our big snow storm, I called about getting onto this property.  I was told by the first person I spoke to that under no circumstances was I allowed onto the property as it was unsafe and wild boars lived behind the house in the bushes.  The idea of meeting up with a wild boar should have been enough to scare me off but I don’t typically like to be told no so I kept calling around.  If I couldn’t get onto the property I was going to fall back onto the good old Sigma 600mm.

A couple weeks later the owner called and said that I could go on to take whatever photos I wanted but that I was not to go into the bushes as he wasn’t sure if the well was covered and he did advise me that he has seen boars around the house but that they typically come out at night.  His biggest concern was the state of the home and the fact that the floor was caving in.  He advised me that because people continue to trespass he had decided to burn it down, soon.

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Last weekend I called him to find out that he was planning on burning it down but that the wind was to high so he would give me the weekend to get out there.

Cade and I drove out last Sunday.  I have to admit that I was afraid of every little noise and was on high alert.  I didn’t get close enough to see what was going on inside.  I was just happy that I was given the chance to take photos before it was gone.

The owner of the home purchased the land in 1982.  The house has been vacant since 1971.  He couldn’t tell me much about the home or its history and I couldn’t find anything about its history.

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As I write this post, I realize that there may be a way for me to find out more about this home.  I guess I’ll leave it as stay tuned!

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CLICKITY CLACK

Mr., born in Crewkerne, Somerset, England in 1884 came to Canada in 1902 and worked at Pilot Mound.  In 1908 he moved to Glenboro but went back to England when the war started and as enlisted in the Royal Artillery for 5 years.  While there he met and married his wife.  They returned to Canada from Liverpool with their two children on March 27, 1925 upon the S.S. Montclair.

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I can’t say for certain that they built this home but research tells me that after the sale of this property, it was mostly used as farm land and not a homstead.

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Mr. & Mrs. & their children were active in their community and were members of the local Church of England.

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The family fondly remembers Christmas Concert and picnics held by their school.

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Their son worked for different local farmers in the area but when his father was no longer able to farm the homstead, he took over the farm in 1947.

The farm is now home to a new owners and his herd of cows.

On the property, there remains a lot of the old equipment, much of it overtaken by trees and barely visable.

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Mr. died in 1984 at 100 years of age.

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THREE LITTLE PIGS

I found this house this Summer, on the way to the fallen house.

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This I stopped again for a look around.  From far away I thought the “brick” on the house was asphalt siding.  It was real, red brick.

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Oddly enough, the brick is only missing on the North and South sides of the house.  I did not have permission to enter the house but was happy with the exterior shots.

I could see from a distance, two Corel coffee mugs hanging on the side of the house.

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On the property there was also an old stone foundation but I couldn’t tell what it was.

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Again, I could not find any history on this house.  I do know that the first registered owner was George Robinson who claimed this land in 1894.  He sold the house 6 years later in 1901 to the Towns family.

 

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WE ALL FALL DOWN

Cade & I found this house in April.  I settled for a road shot, made a note of its location and started the search for its land owner.  I couldn’t wait to get closer for some better shots of this house.

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I went back a couple weeks later and the crop was already sprouting so I decided I would wait and not attempt to cross across the crop.  I would wait until the Fall.

One late Summer day the sky was fabulous and since this isn’t far from my house I went for a ride to take some more photos.  This is a completely unedited shot.  I LOVE this photo.

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This weekend, I went back and she’s gone.  All that’s left is a small pile of rubble where she used to stand.  Tonight while searching the history of this property, I didn’t find much and really can’t confirm anything except to say that the first land owner took possession of the property in 1894.  6 years later land owner number 2 took over.

I’m happy that I didn’t find anything more as not getting closer kind leaves its history as a mystery that will always keep me wondering.  I’m happy for the shots I got though.

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PETER, PAUL & MARY

Born in Jugovka, Samara, Russia, in 1905, Peter and his family moved to Siberia when he was four years old.  Fluent in both Russian & German, Peter and his family moved to Canada in 1926, settling in the Margaret area.

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He married Elizabeth in 1944 and for a few years they rented land in the Minto area.

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In 1948 they bought this land and lived here until 1971.

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They raised two girls on this farm and upon retirement, moved to Boissevain.

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I stumbled upon this place while driving around aimlessly in the area.  The sun was just going down and every angle gave me different lighting.

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It was a beautiful night but the skeeters were AWFUL and my family kept calling, worried that I had fallen in a well or rotten old floor.  To add to my fear, I have now been told that an old house I’ve been waiting anxiously to photograph and just got permission for, has wild boars living across the road in a wooded area. Ya, that’s not scary at all.

 

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ALONG THE WAY

If you live where I live, you’ll know this house because there is a good chance you’ve passed it on a road trip to Winnipeg.  An easy capture from the side of the highway.  And a bonus, on this particular day, it wasn’t raining.

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ROADSIDE TREASURES

I’ve passed this barn a million times.  Barns aren’t really my thing but I thought I’d stop and see what I could get.  I couldn’t get very close but thought this was a pretty decent shot nonetheless.  I think with summer coming to an end and with the limited amount of shooting I’ve done this summer, I’ve decided I have to stop at whatever I see.

red barn on highway 2 emailRegardless, I like the gold of the cut crop, the faded red of the barn and the blues in the sky and the contract they make together.

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CLOUDS

I love clouds.  In fact, last summer I would go out on any day to take photos, blaring sun, hot as heck, didn’t matter to me as long as I was taking photos and crossing off old houses before they were gone.  I’ve matured.  I wouldn’t say that its for the better though cause now I want clouds and I don’t care if there’s a little rain or lightning involved.

Here are a couple photos taken on our ride home last week from Winnipeg as we were heading into a storm.

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These were roadside shots and didn’t have permission to enter closer onto the property.  While this is a beautiful old barn it was really the clouds I wanted.

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I also found this little building as well.  At first I thought it might be an old school with all those windows but historically, schools did not look like this.  I will assume this would have been a workshop.

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TURNED AROUND

On this day of exploring, I was in new territory.  I had vistited a home on my to-do list and then attempted to get into another but didn’t want to distrub the crop in the field and decided to come back in the Fall.

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On our way home, hubby (aka Eagle eyes) took a turn of the main highway to investigate a roof in the distance.  As we carried on we came across this old place.

Driving away from what I think will be a real gem, once I get permission, I got all turned around and lost track of the road numbers.  Then we stumbled across this.

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I admit, I don’t like when I can’t find some sort of history on the property.  It feels like the job is incomplete.  Anything I can find doesn’t confirm who the actual land owner is or their life there.