Tuesday 28 March 2017

Images of Loverna, Saskatchewan Part One

Visited here March 25, 2017. Named after Loverna McFarland the daughter of a local railway official, founded about 1913. The town is flirting with ghost town status. There were once five hundred people and a number of businesses. There used to be a railway through here. That ended long ago. A few internet sites state the poplulation here was officially five in 2001. I saw one person when I was here. A friend's mother lived here many years ago. 

From one direction I ran across a marker where a school once stood. Whatever was on the sign below has been erased by the elements. The town is just a bit past the border between Alberta and Saskatchewan.


Next is the sign.


The landscape here kind of rolls. Coming here from the west you first see the town coming over a hill.


What struck me is the number of signs showing what once existed. This one marks the Vernon Hotel which burned down in the 1960's. Another fire hit in 1996 and destroyed part of the town. Someone or some organization placed signs all over the town showing where places once stood. There were grain elevators and a train station. Not anymore.





Some buildings I could not get to due to some of the road being too muddy. There is a mix of derelict buildings, some preserved ones, and a few newer ones. There is a curling rink here.





Amazing how much infrastructure disappeared.


Old horse drawn grader.


Royal Cafe / Harry Seto's / Liz Volk.



The sign in front of this one says Dr.'s Office.

6 comments:

  1. Love it! That place is still on my list to visit. Great photos BW!

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  2. That is so amazing and so interesting for me,living in a very small country.

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  3. I lived 7 miles from there most of my life, it is still a very active community. The signs were put up for a recent community homecoming.

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  4. The signs are nice! A lot of prairie out there.

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  5. Like the one with the old wicker table....

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  6. My grandfather homesteaded north of Loverna in 1913 and my two uncles continued to farm there into the 1960s. We left the district in 1948. So sad to see these once vibrant towns die.

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