I kind of "collect" these. Taking photos of them is a cheap hobby. The first one is a church marker showing where a church once stood. This one reads "Hastings Coulee United Church 1918 - 1973". For some reason I like to see signs in the middle of nowhere saying that something once stood here. It makes me think about the passage of time and how nothing is really permanent.
Hastings Coulee School once stood here and was in use from 1919 to 1947. The "SD" stands for "School District". I have over one hundred photos of school markers. There may have been up to five thousand small schools in the province and not all of their locations were marked.
I like to find the more unique markers. I have seen a couple marking the location of where a post office once stood and a couple marking where a homestead once stood. There are a few 'Century Farms" in Alberta. Farms that are still in operation by the same family that have been in existence for one hundred years. Some homestead markers have marked original important homesteads. I know there is at least one general store marker in Alberta and I want to see it. Practically all of these are marking an empty spot. The important thing is that someone cared enough to try and preserve some local history.
You know I like this post. Between us we have 'collected' a lot of photos of markers.
ReplyDeleteI'm impressed by these markers and whoever spearheaded this movement... it is wonderful to see that history while it can't always be preserved is at least being remembered.
ReplyDeleteI like your photographs too, BW. They make you want to sit there for a spell and imagine what the lives of those people that lived there were like. Good stuff.
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