Along the main highway there is a roadside cairn dedicated to the town of Dinant. The actual town site is about a km east of the marker. I understand putting the marker on a roadside turnout so that more people will hopefully stop and read it. I always stop at roadside signs.
The most information I could find about Dinant, was from the roadside marker. Very little online.
I did read that both of the old school buildings were sold and moved to farm yards. Perhaps they still exist.
Have a read below:
The Provincial Archives had 2 photos of the Bush Mine that used to exist in Dinant.
 |
| Undated photo Provincial Archives of Alberta |
 |
| c.1923 Provincial Archives of Alberta |
Do you know any history about Dinant? I'd love to hear it!
References: Pioneering with a Piece of Chalk, Provincial Archives
So many little communities from the past have pretty much disappeared...out of sight out of mind. I really appreciate when someone makes the time and effort to raise a memorial cairn for a place that would otherwise be forgotten.
ReplyDeleteHi Michael, I appreciate seeing markers for places as well. There are markers all over if you're looking! I wish I had started noticing them sooner!
DeleteI think preserving its legacy with this marker was a very good idea.
ReplyDeleteThanks William, I agree. It is nice to see places remembered.
DeletePlaces disappear physically, sometimes completely. Sometimes I will find a few lines about a place that existed and I am unable to find out anything more. It is kind of weird to know a place vanished.
ReplyDeleteThanks BW. Must be weird for people that lived there especially to have nothing there anymore.
DeleteIt is great there is a cairn to commemorate the place. People have a place they can go to remember!
ReplyDeleteI agree, thanks Marie!
DeleteInteresting that the town just disappeared and there is not anything left at all. It's a real ghost town without anything to tell a story except that roadside marker. As I was reading it, I was thinking of how many people actually have read this road marker. At least now it is available to whoever comes across your blog. Thanks for sharing, Jenn!
ReplyDeleteHave a wonderful weekend.
Thanks Bill, kind of sad isn't it? There are many places totally gone off the map on the prairies, some with not even a marker.
DeleteNice pictures
ReplyDeleteThanks Adam!
DeleteI would bet the Camrose Centennial Museum likely has some info on Dinant.
ReplyDeleteFunny, I emailed them yesterday!
DeleteI'm also thinking that one pic that is supposedly of Dinant, is not. It looks like mountains in the background.
ReplyDeleteHi Tim, not sure, it's from the Provincial Archives from a collection of a family from Dinant.
DeleteYou have an amazing ability to find what everyone else misses even when it is right there for all to see. 👀
ReplyDeleteThanks Glen, sadly years ago I probably drove by many roadside signs and interesting places and didn't give them a second though. I am making up for it now!
DeleteIt's certainly an attractive cairn.
ReplyDeleteThanks Debra, someone told me the model on top was made by 2 local men.
DeleteThat's kind of sad...there are so many towns and villages that simply disappear over the years, along with the people who lived there. It's really cool that you do this Jenn. I love reading about the history.
ReplyDeleteThanks Rain, this one I find even more interesting as it was surviving into the late 60's at least. Lots of places came and went during the earlier years.
DeleteThat's kind of sad that the whole town just ceased to exist like that. It's nice that they put up the marker at least.
ReplyDeleteThanks Danielle, it doesn't feel as though it was very long ago that there was a town there. The 60's/70's aren't thaaaaat long ago lol!
DeleteI was about 3 or 4 years-old when we lived there. The general store, about a quarter-mile from the house, had candy in jars where you could point to the piece you needed. And, I vaguely remember Hutterites from nearby, dressed in scary dark clothing came to sell produce. We moved away before the town died. Now, a time machine would be nice - to go back to check out my memory...
ReplyDeleteThanks Doug, I am so glad you found my post, I wish I had more info and pictures but I am working on it. I have often wished for a time machine to go back and see these places lol!
DeleteOne of the school houses got moved to Kingman in the 70s. It's now up for sale, quite the fixer upper but I was pretty excited to finally learn the history of it when it got listed.
ReplyDeleteHello, thanks for your comment. Neat to know where it ended up! I hope someone purchases it and does something with it.
DeleteI found a picture of our visit to the Carin in 2008 with my Brother Blaine PAULSON
ReplyDeleteIf you want I’ll sent it along. Cheers,
Doug
In approximately 1963 my Dad bought the Dinant railroad station and moved it to Ryley AB and placed it on the south side of Highway 14. He converted it to a service station and to my knowledge it still sits there to this day.
ReplyDeleteGord
In approximately 1963 my Dad bought the Dinant railroad station and moved it to Ryley AB and placed it on the south side of Highway 14. He converted it to a service station and to my knowledge it still sits there to this day.
ReplyDeleteGord
Hi Gord this is Willis Reist President of the Ryley Museum society willisreist@outlook.com, would you be able to contact me as I am doing an article/display on the old railway station and would dearly love to talk to you and get some more information on the move and who your dad was, pictures of the move, or of any thing left at Dinant when the station was moved. If it cost anything and any other interesting fun facts for my article. Thanks so much for now. Willis
DeleteHi Jenn, thanks for providing this background on Dinant. My Grandad worked at the coal mine there. The 1931 Census shows the family living in Dinant, my Dad being 8 years old at the time. I suspect they lived in the houses at the mine site, and Dad probably attended the elementary school in the village. The family moved to Edmonton sometime after that where Grandad worked in the Beverly Mines. I am taking my 98 year old Mom out there for a visit this summer.
ReplyDeleteHi Bob! What interesting family history! I hope you mom enjoys the trip, it's beautiful country.
DeleteI just found my Mom's birth certificate (she was born in 1936) and it showed that Dinant was my Grandmother's birthplace
ReplyDeleteNeat! Always interesting to learn family history! Thanks for commenting.
DeleteIf you drive about a mile east of the cairn, there are a ton of potholes in the fields. My uncle used to tell me about farmers losing cattle in the 70's/80's and finding new sinkholes on their property from backfilled pits. Just anecdotal stories, but I took the bus along that road every day to/from school and the potholes are very noticeable depending on the time of year. I used to go looking for new sinkholes but never found any...
ReplyDeleteThose are the interesting things that you can only learn from someone who lived it, thank you for sharing!
Delete