Alberta - the landscape (4)

Dorothy

Alberta

Canada

Wooden grain elevator

 

 

Grain elevators are a visual symbol of western Canada. The elevators (5.758 in 1933) have dominated the prairie landscape for more than a century with every hamlet, village and town boasting its row of them, a declaration of a community's economic viability and a region's agricultural strength.

 

During the sixties the system began to collapse. The

depopulation of rural areas followed mechanization and

consolidation of small farms into larger units during a

time of expectations and urban growth.

 

Grain elevators are a rapidly disappearing sight on the Canadian Prairies. Since 1963 the total number has dwindled from over 5000 to about 400.

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