Before They Fall

Helen Rempel of Portage la Prairie, Man., captures the haunting beauty of these abandoned Prairie ghost towns

- Helen Rempel

As far back as I can remember, whenever I‘d spot old houses and barns crumbling by the roadside, I’d wonder about the stories behind them and about the families that had lived there. Ghost towns spark many a person’s interest, but each person’s story and experience is a little different. Not too long ago, my sister Ann asked if I’d like to come to Saskatchewan to do a tour of some old ghost towns and of course I was excited to go.

We decided to meet halfway, in Regina, so we could spend some time together and then leave the next morning on our trip—wherever it led us.

We had been told by several people what to do and not do while visiting these places, so we were very respectful of our surroundings. We didn’t have GPS, so on our map, we circled names of small ghost towns that were scattered in and around southern Saskatchewan, and plotted our route.

At 9 a.m. the following day, after a hearty breakfast, and with a thermos of coffee in hand, we headed out, planning to stop for lunch at some point. The weather wasn’t great, but we thought it was all the more fitting for seeing and photographing these gloomy places.