Austin's General Store and a garage in Pioneer Village are pictured on July 24, 2019 (photo by Bob Schneider)

By Charles Lefebvre

A trip back in time

Pioneer Village preserves rural history

Jul 25, 2019 | 11:45 AM

MEDICINE HAT, AB — With a few steps, you’re transported into the past on the Medicine Hat Exhibition & Stampede Grounds.

The Pioneer Village on the grounds showcases the history of life on the prairies nearly a century ago, featuring a mix of original buildings and buildings built to emulate the past.

“It gives people just a real honest, unvarnished look back,” said Doug Glock, chairperson of the Pioneer Village Committee with the Stampede.

Glock notes the Stampede began showcasing agriculture related artifacts in 1972 with what was called the Agriculture Arcade, noting the Pioneer Village became what is is today starting in 1992.

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The area features three original buildings that have been transported and restored. The McKay Creek School, which served the rural community south of Walsh in 1933 was added to the grounds in 1992. St. James Church, located north of Medicine Hat near Hilda, arrived in 1996.

The Austin General Store is the most recent historic building to be added, being transported to the Stampede in 1998.

The store served Hilda residents from 1915 to 1997, and today, the inside resembles how the store would have appeared in the 1930s or 1940s.

Recreating the inside took a “tremendous amount” of work from volunteers, said Glock, though he noted there still sits a lot of original inventory from the store.

The Inside of Austin’s General Store (photo by Bob Schneider)

Clothing is on display at Austin’s General Store in the Pioneer Village (photo by Bob Schneider)

“The soap, the bran flakes, the cereals, one of our volunteers wrote away, wrote letters to a company that sent him sheets of the wrappings,” he said. “And then, he used cereal boxes and spent countless hours making up all the product that you see on the shelves.”

In addition to the original buildings, there are also replicas of a garage, a black smith shop, a fire hall and a North West Mounted Police Detachment.

“I think everything we have here is very representative of the way it was was,” said Glock.

The blacksmith shop in Pioneer Village

Glock says he eventually wants to add a turn of the century home to the village.

The theme for this year’s Stampede is Spotlight on Agriculture, and Glock says the village gives people a look at what life was like for rural Canadians.

“Our history of the prairies and life on the prairies is worth preserving and remembering,” he said.

Stampede week is the busiest time of the year for the village, and Glock says he likes seeing the reactions of younger people to what life was like before they were born.

“They’re just amazed, they love it,” he said. “The fact that, in the store here, where you don’t go along with shopping carts, the gentleman working behind the counter gets you what you need. And young people find that really amazing.

“Another building is the school. All of the grades were in one room, and no visual aids, just a chalkboard.”

Glock says the Stampede is very supportive and helps maintain the village, and he says there are approximately 100 volunteers that help out during the Stampede.

“Everyone realizes the importance of what we have down here,” he said.

The village is open from noon to 9 p.m. daily during the Stampede.