Just a Gal from Glidden: All you need is … Loverna

By Kate Winquist
kate@yoursouthwest.com

I don’t know about you, but I’m getting tired of the deep freeze. We’ve been in this cold snap for well over a week now, and I am so ready for spring!

For the most part, I am pretty tolerant of the weather. I was so happy that the sun was shining last Sunday that I said to Robert that I was itching to get out and take some photos. I told him that I needed to go to Hoosier to get a picture of the United Church for one of our stories this week. “It’s only about a 45-minute drive,” I said, hinting that he should come along for company. “We’ve got each other to keep warm if we get stranded,” I assured him, giving him a wink.

Robert just rolled his eyes and proceeded to start the truck. “We should go for breakfast first,” he said, much to my amazement. We don’t eat out a whole bunch, especially since COVID, and to go somewhere without the kids was even more special. We went to Humpty’s in Kindersley, and each ordered the Eggs Benedict. Robert ordered a side of bangers and graciously offered to share. The restaurant decorations were Valentine’s themed. Above our booth was a heart with “I love you” on it. Who says romance is dead? We were all set for our road trip to Hoosier. The cell phone was charged, we had a tank full of gas, and we headed west down the number 7 highway.

It was -36°C when we left town, not including the wind chill. We decided the best route to take would be north of Marengo on the 317. I had never been to Hoosier before.

The Canadian Pacific Railway played a significant role in the town’s economy when it was completed in 1913, in the early years of Hoosier’s history. The branch line closed in 1981, the tracks from Dodsland to Hoosier were pulled, and the last of the community’s grain elevators was demolished, causing Hoosier’s population to decline.

I took a few pictures of the church, the old school, the Co-op Store and two cats that posed for me at the Hoosier Lunch & Munch (which is also the Post Office).

As we were leaving, I mentioned to Robert that Loverna wasn’t too far away, and it would be a shame if we didn’t check it out. After all, I never found it on my trip last fall when I ended up driving through Cactus Lake, Fusilier and Major.

“There’s nothing in Loverna,” he said.

I mentioned to him that there must be something to see. After all, I do have five subscribers from there!

We never met a soul on our entire trip. We did stumble upon a herd of Antelope that were busy feeding on a grain bag alongside of the road. I spotted a snowy owl on a fence post, but unfortunately, it flew away before I could get a photo.

Loverna is now considered a ghost town, but in the early 1920s, it was a bustling community, reaching 500 citizens.

Loverna boasted a hotel, two Chinese restaurants, two doctors, four lumberyards, two barbershops, three implement businesses, four garages, two banks, a feed mill, two grain elevators, four grain companies, a hardware store, two poolrooms, three grocery stores, two real estate offices, three livery stables, a newspaper, and even a small five-bed hospital.*

The community has signs erected to show where businesses used to stand.

Following droughts and the Depression years, Loverna’s citizens began to leave for larger and more accessible Saskatchewan and Alberta locations. A devastating fire in the early 1960s destroyed the three-story Vernon Hotel, which was the community’s main social establishment.

In 1996, another fire swept through the community’s west side. It took out many of the old buildings and houses.

There was plenty to see on a cold, cold Sunday afternoon in February. I couldn’t wait to get back home to do a bit of research on what I experienced that day.

All I needed to warm my heart was Loverna and my best friend along for the ride.

* Source: Saskatchewan Ghost Towns

Photos by Kate Winquist

The former Hemmings, Isaac Wright Confectionary and V.L. Volk Store at Loverna.

Hoosier’s “Cool Cats”

The empty streets of Loverna. It was once a thriving town of 500 citizens back in the 1920s.

Loverna’s train station from the pioneer glory days. It has long disappeared. Source: Loverna History Book Committee