Ghost Towns and Abandoned Communities

Exploring ghost towns and abandoned communities on the Canadian prairies. A main focus is on ghost towns in Saskatchewan.

Saskatchewan has become well known for its flat landscapes, simple shape and abandoned buildings. Well, the argument can be made that Saskatchewan is truly not flat but rather boasts some amazing landscapes. It is correct that there are a hundreds of abandoned buildings. Everything from farmyards, churches, schoolhouses, towns and everything in between.

When the province was first settled, there would have been homesteads and farms on every quarter sections, multiple one-room schoolhouses in every Rural Municipality and rural churches. Towns would have been full with businesses, hotels, elevators and more. Times change and the rural community is not what it once was. Small town’s dwindled, businesses closed, hotels shuttered, elevators demolished and people moved to larger cities. Younger generations didn’t necessarily take over the family farm and the farms that remained grew to huge corperate businesses. This meant that many farmyards were abandoned and with a lower rural population the schoolhouses closed and kids were bused to the nearby town. The rural churches also closed due to dwindling congregation numbers. Hence, the large amount of abandoned buildings remaining.