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Southern Saskatchewan Ghost Towns and Hamlets
< on 4/11/2019 4:10 PM >
The last 30 to 40 days I've been travelling at a hell of a pace with no more than a couple of days at home in BC between trips, mostly working on the road in the Canadian prairies, but always finding at least half a day between jobs to roam and explore some of the places I've wanted to visit for years. The last week of March, shortly after meeting up with the YEG crew in Edmonton, I was back on the road in southern Saskatchewan with a list of ghost towns along my route, most of them not far from the Red Coat Trail.
This was my 3rd trip to Saskatchewan in the last 2 years and, as is always the case, my expectations were vastly exceeded. Compared to what I've experienced exploring rural British Columbia and Alberta over the last few years, Saskatchewan is the undisputed king. Nowhere else have I had as much luck just pointing myself in any random direction and stumbling upon more history and ruins than I could ever have the time to fully explore. Saskatchewan is nothing short of a Canadian Ghost Town Mecca and among it's extraordinarily sparse landscape one will find more history and character than they would ever expect from a passing glance at the horizon.
The amount of photos that I returned home with is far from suitable for a single post so I will be updating this thread periodically with a bit of insight into each individual location.
Robsart, SK
Like many of the townsites along the Red Coat Trail Robsart has existed on the threshold between ghost town and hamlet for decades. On approach one wouldn't expect to find anybody living there, the number of properties abandoned does appear to exceed the number occupied, but the most recent population data available online (2016) does claim a population of ~20. Upon my visit I counted ~5 but it is entirely possible that some residents are seasonal.
Not long after its incorporation over a century ago in 1912 Robsart was a fairly active community with a population exceeding 350, hotels, cafés, churches, a school, banks, grain elevators, and a public hospital. Robsart's descent is a familiar story that applies to most ghost towns: The Great Depression, accidental fires in the downtown core, droughts, struggling industries, and the success of neighboring cities peeling the population away one by one. The decline was drawn out all of the way to January 1st, 2002 when it was finally dissolved into an unincorporated hamlet and handed over to the governance of Rural municipality of Reno No. 51.
The original Robsart Hospital was built in 1917 and closed in the late 30s, it still stands today on private property and is the only remaining pioneer hospital of its kind in Saskatchewan. This was the first building that I came across on my way through town and I was immediately approached by an unusual pair of security guards who seemed rather excited to see me, maybe the only stranger they'd met in months.
PSX_20190325_212259 by EPOCH 6, on Flickr
PSX_20190325_214548 by EPOCH 6, on Flickr
PSX_20190325_221617 by EPOCH 6, on Flickr
PSX_20190325_215351 by EPOCH 6, on Flickr
PSX_20190325_215752 by EPOCH 6, on Flickr
PSX_20190325_221333 by EPOCH 6, on Flickr
PSX_20190325_221017 by EPOCH 6, on Flickr
PSX_20190325_220500 by EPOCH 6, on Flickr
PSX_20190325_220733 by EPOCH 6, on Flickr
PSX_20190325_220859 by EPOCH 6, on Flickr
PSX_20190325_221136 by EPOCH 6, on Flickr
PSX_20190325_222822 by EPOCH 6, on Flickr
PSX_20190325_222111 by EPOCH 6, on Flickr
Several original stores remain in the Robsart downtown core. One of them, the Vidora Cafe, was saved from demolition and moved from the original nearby townsite of Vidora to Robsart, it is one of the only remaining structures from Vidora.
Robsart,_Saskatchewan_(1915) by EPOCH 6, on Flickr
PSX_20190325_212000 by EPOCH 6, on Flickr
PSX_20190325_211753 by EPOCH 6, on Flickr
PSX_20190325_222322 by EPOCH 6, on Flickr
PSX_20190325_222509 by EPOCH 6, on Flickr
PSX_20190325_222651 by EPOCH 6, on Flickr
Robsart1914_orig_jpeg-1- by EPOCH 6, on Flickr
PSX_20190325_213635 by EPOCH 6, on Flickr
PSX_20190325_213141 by EPOCH 6, on Flickr
PSX_20190325_213341 by EPOCH 6, on Flickr
PSX_20190325_212758 by EPOCH 6, on Flickr
PSX_20190325_221924 by EPOCH 6, on Flickr
More to come!
This was my 3rd trip to Saskatchewan in the last 2 years and, as is always the case, my expectations were vastly exceeded. Compared to what I've experienced exploring rural British Columbia and Alberta over the last few years, Saskatchewan is the undisputed king. Nowhere else have I had as much luck just pointing myself in any random direction and stumbling upon more history and ruins than I could ever have the time to fully explore. Saskatchewan is nothing short of a Canadian Ghost Town Mecca and among it's extraordinarily sparse landscape one will find more history and character than they would ever expect from a passing glance at the horizon.
The amount of photos that I returned home with is far from suitable for a single post so I will be updating this thread periodically with a bit of insight into each individual location.
Robsart, SK
Like many of the townsites along the Red Coat Trail Robsart has existed on the threshold between ghost town and hamlet for decades. On approach one wouldn't expect to find anybody living there, the number of properties abandoned does appear to exceed the number occupied, but the most recent population data available online (2016) does claim a population of ~20. Upon my visit I counted ~5 but it is entirely possible that some residents are seasonal.
Not long after its incorporation over a century ago in 1912 Robsart was a fairly active community with a population exceeding 350, hotels, cafés, churches, a school, banks, grain elevators, and a public hospital. Robsart's descent is a familiar story that applies to most ghost towns: The Great Depression, accidental fires in the downtown core, droughts, struggling industries, and the success of neighboring cities peeling the population away one by one. The decline was drawn out all of the way to January 1st, 2002 when it was finally dissolved into an unincorporated hamlet and handed over to the governance of Rural municipality of Reno No. 51.
The original Robsart Hospital was built in 1917 and closed in the late 30s, it still stands today on private property and is the only remaining pioneer hospital of its kind in Saskatchewan. This was the first building that I came across on my way through town and I was immediately approached by an unusual pair of security guards who seemed rather excited to see me, maybe the only stranger they'd met in months.
PSX_20190325_212259 by EPOCH 6, on FlickrPSX_20190325_214548 by EPOCH 6, on FlickrPSX_20190325_221617 by EPOCH 6, on FlickrPSX_20190325_215351 by EPOCH 6, on FlickrPSX_20190325_215752 by EPOCH 6, on FlickrPSX_20190325_221333 by EPOCH 6, on FlickrPSX_20190325_221017 by EPOCH 6, on FlickrPSX_20190325_220500 by EPOCH 6, on FlickrPSX_20190325_220733 by EPOCH 6, on FlickrPSX_20190325_220859 by EPOCH 6, on FlickrPSX_20190325_221136 by EPOCH 6, on FlickrPSX_20190325_222822 by EPOCH 6, on FlickrPSX_20190325_222111 by EPOCH 6, on FlickrSeveral original stores remain in the Robsart downtown core. One of them, the Vidora Cafe, was saved from demolition and moved from the original nearby townsite of Vidora to Robsart, it is one of the only remaining structures from Vidora.
Robsart,_Saskatchewan_(1915) by EPOCH 6, on FlickrPSX_20190325_212000 by EPOCH 6, on FlickrPSX_20190325_211753 by EPOCH 6, on FlickrPSX_20190325_222322 by EPOCH 6, on FlickrPSX_20190325_222509 by EPOCH 6, on FlickrPSX_20190325_222651 by EPOCH 6, on FlickrRobsart1914_orig_jpeg-1- by EPOCH 6, on FlickrPSX_20190325_213635 by EPOCH 6, on FlickrPSX_20190325_213141 by EPOCH 6, on FlickrPSX_20190325_213341 by EPOCH 6, on FlickrPSX_20190325_212758 by EPOCH 6, on FlickrPSX_20190325_221924 by EPOCH 6, on FlickrMore to come!
[last edit 4/11/2019 4:10 PM by EPOCH6 - edited 1 times]
