Manitoba Ghost Towns

Abandoned Manitoba Ghost Towns – travel blog.

A swing and crumbling house in the abandoned Manitoba ghost town of Ste. Elizabeth.

First – I absolutely need to recommend Gordon Goldsborough’s two excellent books on Manitoban history. He has done so much in preserving, documenting and highlighting Manitoba’s rich history. He is a Manitoban legend.

Second – Please be aware that most of the towns below are NOT ghost towns. They are small towns with a few historic and crumbling buildings surrounding them. People live there. Do NOT wander around without permission.

Ste. Elizabeth

Probably the closest to an actual ghost town as it gets.

One of the few remaining houses - barely standing in the abandoned Manitoba ghost town of Ste. Elizabeth.

Ste. Elizabeth, Manitoba was founded in the late 1800’s by French settlers. Russian and Hutterite immigrants followed a few decades later.

The middle of nowhere.  Ste. Elizabeth, Manitoba.

There was a failed attempt to get the railway to stop nearby and 2 wells which had poor quality ground water which that most likely contributed to its demise.

Carol Baskin graffiti, abandoned ghost town.
Sad to see the graffiti, even though some of it makes me giggle.
Abandoned Manitoba ghost town of Ste. Elizabeth.

Just a few abandoned houses remain.

Abandoned Manitoba ghost town of Ste. Elizabeth.
Abandoned Manitoba ghost town of Ste. Elizabeth.

The Roman Catholic Church is in beautiful shape, well maintained and still hosts an annual pic-a-nic every summer.

Inside the beautiful (and still maintained) church in Ste. Elizabeth.
The Roman Catholic Church and Cemetery is still standing and well maintained in Ste. Elizabeth.

Grain Elevators

Small Manitoban towns were usually made up of a grain elevator, a school, a church and a few small houses.

The shell of an old grain elevator stands behind an old truck in the small town of Lyleton.
Lyleton, Manitoba

Quite frequently, these massive structures are all that’s left behind.

This grain elevator is barely standing in the small but picturesque ghost town of Oberon.

The railway that once served them moves on and so does the town.

The town of Barnsley does not really exist anymore, however a few small farms surround the area and are still active today.
Barnsley, Manitoba

Due to modern grain production, small farms are integrated into larger ones. Farming communities slowly become single farms spread out over the vast prairies.

Manitoba Ghost Towns - Lake of the Woods abandoned grain elevator.
One of the few remaining structures in Oberon, Manitoba.
Oberon, Manitoba

But they are all beautiful reminders of Canadian prairie history.

The exquisite Elva grain elevator - believed to be one of the oldest in Canada was built in 1897.
Elva Grain Elevator – believed to be one of the oldest in Canada (1897).

Manitoba Ghost Towns – Schools

Along with grain elevators, schools frequently mark the locations of abandoned Manitoba ghost towns. These markers are usually the only evidence that remains behind.

Matchettville School.  These one room schools were common in small Manitoban towns in the first half of the 1900's.
Matchettville School (1905 – 1951). Damage caused by farm machine accident in 2003.
Manitoba Ghost Towns - The Richview School, slowly being consumed by trees, near Killarney, Manitoba.
Former site of Richview School (1888 – 1967).
A lot of schools have sign in books for visitors like Bernice School Division No. 547.  Call the phone number on the door and someone will stop by to let you visit.
A lot of schools have sign in books for visitors like Bernice School Division No. 547. Call the phone number on the door and someone will stop by to let you visit.
You shouldn't have come here.
Morning Star School Site, abandoned Manitoba ghost town.
Morning Star School Site (1910 – 1967).
Manitoba Ghost Towns - Star Mound School Museum.
Some schools are now open museums like the one in Star Mound (1886 – 1962).

Tilston

Tilston it NOT an abandoned town – it is definitely populated. I’m including it because there were some lovely buildings there. And the sky was cooperating.

Tilston grain elevator, abandoned Manitoba.
Tilston grain elevator, abandoned Manitoba.
Tilston grain elevator, abandoned Manitoba.
Abandoned Manitoba houses.
Abandoned Manitoba houses.
Manitoba Ghost Towns - abandoned school.
Manitoba Ghost Towns - abandoned home.
Calendar from 2006, abandoned house, rural Manitoba.

Buildings and Homes

The towns of Elva, Snowflake and Lauder are considered abandoned Manitoba ghost towns due to a few crumbling buildings in the area, even though much of the area is still occupied.

Abandoned farm house, outside Elva, Manitoba.
Abandoned farm house, near Elva, Manitoba.
Abandoned farm house - abandoned Manitoba ghost town.
Abandoned farm house near Lauder, Manitoba.
Abandoned farm house - abandoned Manitoba ghost town.

The famous “Lyons House” near Carberry has been abandoned since 1964.

Robert Fern Lyons House near Carberry, Manitoba.  A beautiful example of an old manison from the early 1900's.

It was built to last in 1895 by Robert Fern Lyons a member of the Manitoba Legislature. After all of these years you can still imagine what a grand mansion this would have been.

Lyons House - abandoned mansion near Carberry, Manitoba.
Abandoned Manitoba ghost towns.  Beautiful abandoned mansion.

Manitoba Ghost Towns – The Rest

This famous abandoned church is familiar to anyone travelling south towards the United States due to it’s position between a divided highway. The sky always looks enormous around here.

The United Church and Cemetery is all that remains of Union Point and is a peaceful place for anyone who needs a rest while driving.

The Union Point United Church and Cemetery.  All that's left of Union Point abandoned ghost town.

The concrete skeleton of the Kilkenny General Store was built to last in the abandoned ghost town town of Broomhill. In 1976 a storm washed out a nearby railway bridge and was never repaired, forever sealing Broomhill’s fate.

The Kilkenny General Store, Broomhill.  Abandoned since 1976.
Old grain elevator office - Manitoba Ghost Towns.
Former site of the Matchettvillle Church.   Abandoned Manitoba ghost town in 1961.
Former site of Matchettville Church (1898 – 1961).
Former site of Bender Hamlet and old Jewish Settlement from the beginning of the 1900's.
This marker is one of the last things remaining from Bender Hamlet – a former shtetl-style Jewish farm colony from 1903 to 1926.

Want more Manitoba?

Check out my travel blog “Giants of the North – The Giant Statues of Manitoba!”


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