Rowleywood Nights: Pizza and Historic Buildings

I had no idea what to expect when I decided to invite a bunch of people to meet me at Rowley, AB for monthly pizza night. This night happens on the last Saturday of every month and is how the locals raise money to maintain and preserve the historic buildings of Rowley.

I had been there last year, but on a non-pizza day, and I was alone to explore the town. This Saturday the town of 8-10 people swelled to around 300 (a guess only). Pizza orders start at 5 and since they can only bake 18 pizzas at a time, it can take awhile. No one seemed to mind. Sam's Saloon, compete with sawdust floor and free popcorn, was packed and the band (Hell City Express) and company were great. In the meantime, I happened to run into a local who had the keys to some of the old buildings so we got to see in the old store, train station and one room school house.

The pizza order line up starts early

I will focus on a bit different view of Rowley than my first visit. With so many people camping in town this time, it would have been impossible to get good shots of any of the buildings anyway. I like photos without people. The photos from my previous trip can be seen here.

Right beside Sam's Saloon is the Rowley Trading Post. It is/was the general store and ice cream shop. In the back was a room set up with old wooden theater seats but it wasn't ever a theater.

Post Office boxes!

After that, it was onto the train station that was built in 1922. After being informed that the place was haunted, the phone in the train station rang! No one answered it. It rang again a few minutes later so I ran and picked it up. It sounded like an old man on the other end and he wanted to order pizza. I told him that he had reached the train station and he hung up. It rang again later. I wonder if he ever got through to the right number and got his pizza.

Signals 

Signal controls. Also, Gordon never did become Premier. 

Vintage wallpaper from the living quarters

POWER!!!

Last stop was the old school. It was first White Rose School built in 1911. It was moved to the nearby district of Hillsgreen when that school burned down in 1946. It became a community centre for a short time and then was moved to Rowley.

I was worried my son might be bored but there is a park there and there were so many kids to play with, he even found a kid he knows from our town! He also had books to read. We got our pizza around 8pm and it was delicious. It was good to see Chris and Connie from www.bigdoer.com, BW from http://everybodyhastobesomewhere.blogspot.ca/ and Tim & Kim. Also enjoyed meeting BW's nephew who was the life of the party.

Same photo as last time, fall version!

Hope everyone had a good weekend and maybe some pizza.

Return to Rowley

Rowley! Sept 2016

I visited Rowley in September of last year and immediately fell in love with it. It's been a whole year but I am going back tomorrow. This time though I will also be meeting friends and we will be enjoying the monthly Rowley Pizza Night, put on by volunteers. The money goes towards the up keep up this virtual ghost town.  I can't wait. I am sure I will take a few photos while I am there too.

Also since I loved it so much I made a wood photo out of it, which is one of my hobbies. To see more you can check out my Facebook Page: Ingrained Images or find me on Instagram @ingrained_images

Have a great weekend everyone! Catch up with you all on Monday or Tuesday!

St. Paul's Anglican Church

As teased in my previous post....here it is, St. Paul's Anglican Church in all it's glory!! This church is located in the Forest Bank area of Saskatchewan, which is north of the Village of Waseca.

I was hoping to find more info on this lovely church but the places I normally look are coming up with very little information. What I did find was that the church was completed in 1910 by volunteer labour. However the first service, a Harvest Festival, was held on September 19, 1909. I am not sure if that is correct or a typo. Regular services are still held here today.

We always try the door just to see, this time the front door was unlocked but the door to the main part of the church was locked. The following photo was taken through the window. It is a well kept beautiful church. 

Photos taken on Sept 16th, 2017.

Marshall and Forest Bank: A Short Journey into Saskatchewan

Recently I was in Lloydminster, AB. I say Alberta since I was staying on the Alberta side but part of the city is also in Saskatchewan. This brings up so many questions about laws etc...but I digress....

Saskatchewan is a mostly undiscovered territory for me. I wish I had paid more attention when I was younger, since I visited southern Saskatchewan just about every year. Fast forward many years...I had the opportunity to explore a bit in the very west central portion of Sask. On my earlier visit this year, I checked out Waseca, Paynton, and Bresaylor. This time I stopped in Marshall, and a couple other sites on the backroads.

In Marshall, we saw a train approaching as we were stopped beside the grain elevator, I didn't have time to get in a better position for a cool train + elevator shot. This is my 'Train Geek' attempt.

Comin' in hot!

Moving fast!

Marshall Hotel now.

Marshall Hotel then. Photo courtesy of http://peel.library.ualberta.ca

After Marshall, it was onto a couple of planned stops. Just down the road from the church I was looking for, I found an old school that had become a community centre. It has an overgrown baseball diamond, and some rusty playground equipment. No one has played there in awhile, but that didn't stop my son from trying out the spinny, rusty, probably will need a tetanus shot thing. However, the area around the community centre was mowed.

The church and the community centre are both called Forest Bank. What does this mean kids? It means there was a pioneer community here. I could not find much info on the school, but I did confirm it was Forest Bank School #1659. While I was taking photos, my son told me the door was open, so we took a quick peek inside. As we went in, a familiar smell hit me. It's not a pleasant or unpleasant smell, just the smell of an unused place. Dust and time and forgotten things.

Once you go in you have to go up or down, the basement level was flooded, but a look from the bottom of the stairs showed some desks and other furniture. Not much to see upstairs, just left over paraphernalia from it's days as a community centre, chairs, kitchen equipment and various odds and ends. We left and made sure the door was secure. Remember, touch nothing and take only photos.

Fun?

Game over.

Thanks for the Memories and a crude primitive chalk drawing.

Finger lickin' good.

Down the road is St.Paul's Anglican Church at Forest Bank. This place is beautiful and there will be post later this week, here is a teaser:

Photos taken on September 16th, 2017.

Abandoned Summer

Summer is over, today is the first day of Autumn. Which means the SNOW we had yesterday actually happened in the summer. Luckily it looks like we are back to regularly scheduled fall programming with warmer temperatures and sun returning on Sunday.

Here are a few photos of abandoned homes that I took this summer. I love the character in these places and the stories they must be keeping.

I took hundreds of photos this summer in Alberta (and a few in Saskatchewan). This is a good way to remember where I was. Plus this way I don't have to post them individually and think of clever things to say each time. So onward we go!

Near Innisfree

Near Vegreville

Near Viking

Near Benalto

Near Spruceview

 

Near Caroline

Near Sylvan Lake

Near Pine Lake

Near Carbon

Near Hesketh

Near Hesketh

Near Carbon

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend, without snow. It is much too early for snow.

St. Helen's Anglican Church

I found this gem (that colour!) while on the way to Lloydminster, AB last week. It is located SE of Mannville on a quiet road. It's a tiny site, the church and a couple dozen graves surrounded by trees, blink and you might miss it.

When the railroad came through the area in 1904, group settlement was encouraged, this particular area attracted a lot of English settlers. The area, named Stellaville, quickly established a store, post office and school. As nearby Mannville was along the rail line, it became the larger centre. Stellaville remained a tiny hamlet with a distinct English character, as can be seen in the design of St. Helen's Anglican church. The church was built in the summer of 1912, with the first service being a Thanksgiving service held in October of 1912. One wealthy member of the church, commissioned a stained glass window all the way from Italy. It was said to be the most beautiful stained glass window in the whole Edmonton Diocese. I couldn't find any sign of anything else that was part of the Stellaville community.

The last burial was in 1969 and the last services were held at St. Helen's in the Summer of 1976. The original stained glass window was moved St. Saviours Anglican Church in Vermilion in 1980. I'd like to stop by there to see it in person next time I am up that way.

I don't ever expect to find unlocked doors but the church was open and a guest book was inside, maybe because it is a Historic Site? In any case, I love being able to see inside these places. According to the guest book, it has regular visitors. Before us, the last visitor wrote a note praying for a good harvest.

The church is kept up and looked after thanks to the Stellaville Historical Society. Thanks Stellaville Historical Society!

A registered Alberta Historic Site in 2000.

I would love to have seen the original stained glass window.

References: HeRMIS; Handwritten history inside the church and on the plaque