Leavings

Two weekends ago my Alberta Adventures took me to the smallest town in Alberta, Granum. As per usual, I was seeking out new roads to travel to new destinations. My end goal was Fort MacLeod and my chosen route was southbound from Cochrane on The Cowboy Trail, eastbound on my favourite Southern Alberta stretch of highway, the Nanton Road, and then south again on a series of new-to-me narrow, dusty range roads that follow Willow Creek until you hit Township Road 110 into Granum. Why Granum?

A quick Google search will take you to the town’s inviting, informative website where I learned that it is not only Alberta’s smallest town, but was once in the running with Edmonton, Calgary and Fort MacLeod to be named the Province’s capital. What really sparked my interest, however, was the link to what “out-of-towners” say about Granum. I clicked the link and was immediately charmed by the first response: “That’s the place where we turn on from Highway 2 to go to Lethbridge.” Self deprecation and small town humour at it’s best!

I poked around the site further and learned that Granum, the latin word for grain, was not the original name of this town. Prior to 1908, it was called Leavings. Now, in this day and age of slick marketing and savvy messaging, I can understand why such a change was made, can’t you? When you dig into the town’s history a bit further, however, the reason for the name Leavings made perfect sense within the context of prairie travel at the time. Originally, the trail along Willow Creek converged with the trail north to then Fort Calgary, marking a natural “leaving” place from the east-west passage across the vast prairies. The original name was literal and quite practical as it turns out!

The town today is a wonderful respite from the hustle and bustle of larger centres. It has a main street that runs parallel to the railway tracks, housing necessities such as a gas station, local restaurants and a town’s meeting spot, The Post Office. I enjoyed my visit to Granum and recommend you do indeed turn off Highway 2 to do the same!

Oh yes, today’s photo. I took the snap above just outside of Granum on the road to Fort MacLeod. I had the word Leavings in my head as I drove south and thought this spot captured the more visceral meaning of the term, especially with the focus on the long, grassy lane way. For those who follow along on my rural Alberta adventures, you know that I will often stop to take photos of old farms and abandoned prairie homes like this one. I do this with the realization and reverence that this spot was once the sanctuary of families and cherished memories. Life happened here! For the folks who read this blog from back home in Lambton County, if ever you are on the Lakeshore Road between Sarnia and Kettle Point, across from The Lambton United Church Centre, you will find a spot not unlike the photo above, with old machinery buildings and animal sheds (and now one giant wind turbine…). That was home for me once upon a time and that 150 acres holds the memories of a fortunate, loving, idyllic childhood. Smile as you pass by. The Henderson family lived and loved there once.