A Town That Has Almost Disappeared

Canada
August 31, 2019 6:56pm CST
My son Wesley and I went for a walk with the video camera this morning through our "downtown". This was kind of inspired by someone who posted a discussion centered around a small cemetery. We visited the local cemetery and were pleasantly surprised to see maintenance work completed on some of the really old markers. We also took a stroll past the abandoned one-room schoolhouse and the converted church. The town welcome sign claims a population of twenty-one which includes all the surrounding farms. I think that if the cemetery were no longer being used and allowed to overgrow no one would ever know there was a town here.
Wesley and I take a walk through the "downtown" of our local village or what's left of it after the years.
8 people like this
10 responses
@Morleyhunt (21584)
• Canada
1 Sep 19
What are the requirements to be considered a village....past or present.
2 people like this
• Canada
1 Sep 19
No idea but we actually have a place name and a welcome sign with a population quoted on it.
2 people like this
@LadyDuck (454915)
• Switzerland
1 Sep 19
That town is really small, I do not believe there are many smaller.
1 person likes this
• Canada
1 Sep 19
In Canada, there are a lot of little places that are little more than a name on a map. Some of them boomed in the past and some were never more than a small cluster of houses. This little town was doing well until the 1950's when a major forest fire tore through. Down our road, two sawmills closed forever and a least three farms were abandoned. Our road was officially undesignated by the province (which means they stopped taking care of it) much to the consternation of the locals. The road is deeply significant to them because this is where that fire was stopped. Had they failed here it probably would have burned clear into Nova Scotia.
1 person likes this
• Canada
1 Sep 19
@LadyDuck Does Switzerland have and "ghost" towns? We do have some in Canada that I know about. Usually, nature completely obliterates them in short order. In the USA in desert areas or arid areas, they tend to hang around a lot longer.
1 person likes this
@LadyDuck (454915)
• Switzerland
1 Sep 19
@koopharper This is interesting. We have small villages here, but Switzerland is a small country. Our smallest, Corippo , has a population of 13 (unlucky number!!!), the two that follows, 31 and 50.
1 person likes this
@toniganzon (72317)
• Philippines
1 Sep 19
Must be a very small town. If I was there, I would have loved to share that cemetery and town to WA in a photo.
1 person likes this
@toniganzon (72317)
• Philippines
2 Sep 19
@koopharper I really love the countryside view. I love taking pictures of them.
1 person likes this
• Canada
3 Sep 19
1 person likes this
• Canada
1 Sep 19
I do show pretty much everything of note in the video. If you like the countryside, it is absolutely beautiful here.
1 person likes this
• Midland, Michigan
1 Sep 19
That was a bit bouncy ride. I was going to ask the age of your son but can guess from seeing him sort of. I don't know why but I was thinking you lived elsewhere although I couldn't even guess where that might be now. I didn't realize you got to being more active here again and it looks like you've had a little family reunion with you, Morley and Emmett. That's one way to visit without overspending.
1 person likes this
• Canada
1 Sep 19
Hard to keep the camera steady while walking. Wesley is 15 years old and a little over 6'2".I'm trying to be active here although I really don't have much time. Morley has actually moved close to us and we are able to visit now and then. Emmett comes this way for the occasional visit as well. Had a semi family reunion about a month ago.
1 person likes this
• Canada
4 Sep 19
@MarshaMusselman It was nice because we've had so few real opportunities to get together.
1 person likes this
• Midland, Michigan
3 Sep 19
@koopharper good, a real family reunion not just a mylot one
1 person likes this
@teamfreak16 (43451)
• Denver, Colorado
1 Sep 19
21 people? Wow, I don't know if I could handle something quite that small.
1 person likes this
• Canada
1 Sep 19
Only if you prefer solitude. I travel to work all the time but my wife and daughter feel too isolated.
1 person likes this
• Canada
1 Sep 19
@teamfreak16 Aren't we all though. I get to see or hear people all day long and I like coming here after work. My wife is here all the time and longs to escape. Be nice to find a happy medium somewhere. Problem is that this is the place I can afford.
1 person likes this
@teamfreak16 (43451)
• Denver, Colorado
1 Sep 19
@koopharper - I love solitude. But I also need to be around people. I am a very confused individual!
1 person likes this
@Janet357 (75678)
7 Sep 19
wow, would like to.live there.;)
1 person likes this
• Canada
7 Sep 19
It has its charm. It does have significant drawbacks as well though. My wife rehearses them to me now and then.
@GardenGerty (157027)
• United States
1 Sep 19
That is even smaller than my town.
1 person likes this
• Canada
1 Sep 19
I'm not sure we can really call ourselves a town anymore. We have the name anyway.
@marguicha (214294)
• Chile
1 Sep 19
That´s a very small town.
1 person likes this
• Canada
1 Sep 19
Yes, it's very small. I have lived in a smaller one though. Dochstader Bridge, Ontario when I was a baby only had two houses and a bridge over the Welland River. We lived in one house and the other one was abandoned.
@xstitcher (30087)
• Petaluma, California
1 Sep 19
Wow, that is small.
1 person likes this
• Canada
1 Sep 19
We joke about it a lot. The town was once thriving but that was a long time ago. Most of the farm folk here are getting old.
@JudyEv (323672)
• Rockingham, Australia
1 Sep 19
There are a lot of abandoned farm-houses on some of our roads. Sometimes all that remains is the brick or stone chimney and perhaps the toughest of the garden plants.
1 person likes this
• Canada
1 Sep 19
There are a lot of old apple trees back in the bush here. They appear to have been planted in small clusters close to where the old houses were. The closest abandoned farmstead to us had a small orchard of about six or seven trees. The only other sign the place was there are two metal posts with a heavy cable between them marking the end of the driveway. The house and barn never had basements and I couldn't even identify a location for them. The only garden plants that remain are scatterings of raspberries. The bears and other wildlife have moved those around so they don't seem to give any real indication where anything was located. I just wish they grew in a big enough clump that we could harvest more than a handful.
1 person likes this