Four Barns and a Church

We saw some interesting old buildings on during our trip to British Columbia last weekend.  I wish I knew their history, but I'm sure we can make up stories to go along with these pictures.  Lets give it a go.

We stopped for gas across the street from this church in one of the small towns in the Crowsnest Pass between Alberta and British Columbia.  At first glance it looks like a regular church, except that it isn't white.  Then I noticed the blue sign on the side of it...Blackbird Coffee Shop...So the question is - is it still used as a church on Sundays and a coffee shop during the week, or has the population of this town all left this church for another one, or have they built another one they like better, or has religion just died a slow death there before the church was used up???  Who knows.  Maybe the coffee shop sign on the side was advertising a popular shop down the street a bit, the church's way of making money by allowing advertisers to share space on their building.  The presence of the crosses on the roof seems to indicate that it is still a place of worship.  We may never know.  Did you notice the fancy looking lanterns visible through that first window?  Interesting. 

When we finally made it safely through the Kootenay Pass we spotted these alpine outbuildings looking all weathered and rustic.  I suppose the one with the peaked roof could have been a house when the homesteaders first settled there, with the barn nearby.  Or these could just be two outbuildings of a large ranching enterprise used when the owners were too far away from the main house to get home safely at night.

Across the road and down a few miles from the last area, I spotted this building, which I'm inclined to think is an old farm house because of the two small doors and the windows.  Maybe the steep peak of the roof was built to mimic the shape of the surrounding mountains.  The corral looks like it may still be used for their animals.  Who knows.  It looks pretty deserted.

These two buildings, above and below, stand across the road from each other in Oliver, BC, where Mary and her family lives.  They have fascinated me from the first time I saw them four years ago.  The yellow signs on the barn (there is one on the other side of the house too) indicate that these are hazardous places, not to be trespassed on, and the lack of graffiti would indicate that those signs have been obeyed.  There is some historical signifigance to this property relating to the early settlers of the valley and I believe they are going to be restored at some date.  They look pretty ramshackle right now.  As far as I can tell, the building above is the barn and the one below would be the farm house.    There is a rather beautiful large home farther down on the property - maybe it houses a remnant of the family that built and used the house and barn in these pictures.  I went on line to check it out but couldn't find anything about them.  Don't you just love a good mystery!

And that's my house/barn/church tour for today.  Have a good one.

Pat