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Rowley - A ghost town?

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About this series:

We had a day trip to Rowley on March 27, 2005. Rowley, a small pioneers town, resides some 180 km northeast of Calgary. It slipped into ghost town status in the 70s, made a comeback during the 80s, and now it's on its way to become a ghost town again.

Lately we fell in love with the idea to explore Alberta's ghost towns. Something in these old abandoned places which ones were a home to pioneers is very appealing to us... in a romantic sort of way. It's also part of Alberta's history which we can learn first hand, and besides, we love taking photos of old stuff.

While searching the net for information, we came across Ghost Towns of Alberta site. This site is a collaboration between Johnnie Bachusky, a writer/photographer living in Red Deer, Alberta, and Susan Foster, a photographer in Toronto, Ontario. Most of the information we bring here was taken from this site, with permission, and we'd like to thank Johnnie for his kindness and generosity *s*.

So, click the upper left thumbnail, and begin your journey into Rowley. We hope you'll enjoy it as much as we enjoyed our visit there, and if you're an Albertan, you might be inspired to visit there yourself.

This series include 43 photos, in 16 pages.

The old train station The old train station Caboose & train car Searle grain Co. LTD grain elevators
An old tractor Sam's saloon A bank, remains of a movie set The old dinner (formerly Rowley Trading post)
Lion Oils LTD. Old garage Funeral home Still standing residence Abandoned residence at the edge of town
Rowleys pioneer hospital Rowleys United Church Prairie School Museum Livery barn, 1917 - 1967, H. Swallow

April 6, 2005, @ 12:05 AM MT

9 Comments

Sepia gives it that authentic look, I love that.

Chantal | 04.06.05 - 1:52 am |

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wonderful shot indeed! the whole series is great! I'd love to take a photo stroll there too!

Liisa Anderson | 04.06.05 - 4:01 am |

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oh wow ... I love the sepia here, feels so authentic and I can feel the dust dancing lightly as the saloon music wafts out and the smell of horse lingers ... heh heh

okay ... I had no idea there were so many ghost towns in this here province. I have a new summer plan of travels : ) thanks you two!!

daisies | 04.06.05 - 4:36 pm |

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Awesome series of photographs. Nice work and even nicer presentation.

Jeff | 04.07.05 - 7:24 am |

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I love visiting ghost towns, wish we had some . Outstanding picture, the sepia is great

Tine | 04.07.05 - 4:27 pm |

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Well, the others have said it all - great stuff

Joe [Scotland] | 04.07.05 - 4:34 pm |

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Many thanks to all of you who commented on the Rowley series. We are so happy you enjoyed it... We were very glad to share this place with you! Thanks, people

Lorien | 04.08.05 - 11:45 am |

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unlike the others, I actually wanna see the large images in color. The colored thumbnails here are begging to be enlarged!

very nice series, hats-off to both of you guys!

ren | 04.08.05 - 3:39 pm |

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Thank you so much, ren... I debated what version of the photos to post... so I can understand what you're saying

Lorien | 04.09.05 - 12:42 am |

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