A Trip to the Dust Homestead

One of the things I love most about photographing abandoned properties is the mystery each house holds.  The first question always concerns who owned the house and whether or not that person or family is still in the area.  When a family moves houses, or an older couple moves to the city, it's quite easy to see this from the lack of possessions the family left behind.

I've been in quite a few abandoned houses, however, containing belongings that show a family hastily left, or was forced to leave because of age, financial reasons, and from time to time, potential foul play.

I find it especially heart-wrenching when I find a house that was abandoned - most likely when an older couple had to move because of their advanced age and need for daily assistance - is still full of that couple's most precious belongings.  Photographs, scrapbooks, fine clothes and jewelry, love notes, and university diplomas, laid to rest in the deteriorating house.

Did these couples or families lack others to care for their belongings, or to hold dear their memories?  Was the job of cleaning out the house just too overwhelming for loved ones to face?

I found this house, once belonging to a family named Dust, while out looking for a cemetery I read was nearby.  The homestead lay at the very edge of town, across from a badly flooded abandoned hog operation.  The entire homestead consisted of a large house, a gorgeous barn, and many wooden storage sheds.   The windows of the house were missing and the back door was wide open.  The house had not been ransacked but appears to have been left out of necessity and the job of cleaning out the house may have overwhelmed relatives nearby.  In any case, the house was a truly beautiful and haunting piece of Saskatchewan history and contained many stories of the family who once called the place home.

Below are scans of negatives I found on the property, as well as my own photos of the homestead today.  The house appears to have been occupied as late at 2008 and as early as 1930.

The homestead then...

The homestead 

The Dust Family

Dust father and son

And now...

The Dust House, September 2014

The barn, 2014

The back of the house

These sheds were full of chairs, tools, car parts, and cookware.

Boxes upon boxes, full of everything imaginable, filled many rooms of the house.

Cardinal Rules of Ghost-Towning

After spending almost all summer investigating abandoned towns and houses in the Saskatchewan countryside, I consider myself a bit of an expert on the "ghost-towning" experience.  Here are a few things to keep in mind if you want to experience ghost towns for yourself.  

General Store in the ghost town of Bents, Saskatchewan

Bring a good map

A grid map is perfect for the prairies.  However, be prepared for roads that are not clearly identified. Many rural municipalities (RMs) in Saskatchewan don't bother to identify any roads whatsoever, or they name them rather than using the RR number. 

Bring water and snacks

Obviously ghosts rarely own stores.  Ghost towns are devoid of bathrooms, coke on tap and anything that resembles a snack.  Don't make the mistake I always make and practically succumb to hunger and thirst while exploring a town.  

Never bring implements of destruction 

Anything that can be interpreted as an implement of destruction (i.e., axes, hammers, crowbars, etc.) won't make it easy if you happen to wander onto private property and try to claim that you're just an intrepid explorer.  If you think you need to bring something to protect yourself, you probably shouldn't be in the town in the first place. 

If it's not abandoned, don't trespass

It's sometimes a little difficult to determine whether or not a property is truly, by the legal definition, abandoned.  However, it's not impossible.  "No Trespassing" signs, clearly readable mean "don't trespass, silly".  If a property still has power, someone is paying the bill and thus, the property is not abandoned.  Also, look for a mowed lawn.  An abandoned house will have no power, most likely no windows (or no curtains), and an overgrown lawn.  My rule of thumb is, if it's not obviously abandoned, knock first, and when entering, yell "hello?" just in case squatters of the human or non-human variety are lurking inside. 

And of course, never break in.  An open door on an abandoned house is an open invitation.   Picking a lock, or otherwise breaking in could be considered breaking and entering if the property is not, as you assumed, abandoned.  

Don't be a looter and leave everything the way you found it.  

Sometimes I take a memento from an old house so that I can identify who may have lived there or because the house is in such ill-repair I know it has never been entered nor will be before it becomes one with the earth again.  But I find it very unfortunate when I come to an abandoned home that has clearly been gutted for financial gain.  

Know what wildlife you may encounter 

In Saskatchewan, we have tick season, hornet season, and all summer is mosquito season.  What we don't have is a lot of dangerous mammals or poisonous snakes.  Know what you're likely to encounter before you leave the house so that you're prepared.  Also, when you enter any building, make noise so you don't happen upon a family of raccoon peacefully napping in an attic.  When I'm alone, I like to sing to myself, to make sure I'm always making my presence known.

It's ok to keep it to yourself

There's no reason to tell the world where a town is located, or where you made the discovery of a lifetime.  I have my own private ghost town, and it's not on the map.  Maybe you'll find yours too.