Tag: old houses

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WHERE IS WILLIAM?

The original homesteader of this land came to the area in 1881 with his parents and siblings and purchased this land in 1882. In 1890 he left for Australia and there is no recorded record of his return.

Charles came to Manitoba in 1890 with his parents. In 1918 his parents bought this property where Charles grew up and later married, farmed and raised a family of his own.

At this home Charles and his wife raised 5 sons and 4 daughters. Charlie was an active member of the school board and the municipal council. Barbara was a homemaker. It is said that the couple never missed a New Year’s Ball.

The couple retired to Belmont in 1950 when their son took over the farm. Unfortunately Charlie passed away 9 years later leaving Barbara alone until she passed away in 1970.

Charles youngest son, L.D. who had lived on this property since he was 4 years old took over the land and raised 3 kids of his own here.

L.D. and his wife retired to Belmont in 1981. It is my understanding that none of L.D’s children farmed.

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CECIL’S PLACE

John, originally from England, came to Canada as a young boy. First settling in Cannington, Ontario and then moving west to Southwestern, Manitoba.

In 1882 John married Elizabeth and settled on another homestead. There they raised two boys, Sidney and William. As a young man Sidney purchased a 1/4 section of this same parcel of land and raised two sons of his own.

When Sidney’s son Cecil got married and needed a place of his own to farm and raise a family, he bought the southwest section of this land, close to his parents and started a family of his own.

Now this house has been in my to shoot binder for some time but Christian then discovered this old car behind the house and as much as I love old abandoned houses, when you add an old car to the mix, it makes it WAY better.

This was one of many locations we shot on this particular afternoon and thankfully since Christian had already been here, he was gracious enough to come back with me and take a few more shots of his own.

I did not post a photograph but this is another one of those old brick houses where the brick is now starting to fall off. I am going to assume that when the roof goes, the water leaks down between the wood structure and the brick which then causes the brick to fall off. There are a few of these red brick houses in the area and recall that there was a family that owned a company that made these bricks.

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CHECKING IN

I thought I’d take a drive a few weeks back and check on an old house that is starting to feel its age and neglect.

The first time I was at this house (I’ve gone many times) she had a bit of a lean but she was standing up pretty straight considering. I seriously contemplated going inside but didn’t because I could see just about everything from the windows.

Over the years I have considered taking grad photos at this house but I never have. Maybe I will take the 2025 grads over here for a few shots and see what I get. Or maybe this house will be gone by then.

I’ll keep checking in periodically to see how she is making out.

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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.