North Railway Street: Part 1

One of my favorite streets in all of Medicine Hat has to be North Railway. It's probably also one of the most intact historic areas in the city. Tons of original brick buildings are still in use here, and they're complimented by their proximity to the train station and rail yard. It's an incredibly visual neighbourhood with a look that spans a century.

North Railway Street ca. 1946

This car was early inspiration for this photo set.

Ghosting image of my 2013 shot merged with an archival one from 1946.

Vintage Neon Signs Postcards

Featuring some of the vintage neon motel signs in Medicine Hat, Alberta, these 5 original postcards capture a piece of historic novelty. Check out these new prints and numerous other original images in my postcard shop here.

Towne Theatre Interior: Main Cinema

From the lobby of the abandoned Towne Theatre, I made my way into the main cinema. With only a couple of the lights at the back working, this is where the theatre really started to feel abandoned. The carpet was dirty, some of the seats were badly stained, and the wall drapery was tattered. No question, the Towne has seen better days than this. Even so, through all the rough spots I could still see the place that I'd frequented so many times growing up.

At the front of the theatre the golden curtain still hung above the stage. A small opening in the curtain revealed that the screen had been taken down and was now lying on the floor. I imagine it was taken down to remove the speakers that were behind it. That's probably what happened to a lot of the drapery on the walls as well. Nothing else was behind the curtain except a brick wall and a wooden frame.  

Down the stairs behind the screen I had a quick look at the original boiler in the basement. There are a few small rooms down there that were perhaps dressing rooms at one time. They're all empty now, but if I'm not mistaken it seems like they must have done some theatre productions here way back when. 

Just off of the stage a small room revealed a few more interesting clues from the Towne's past. A few theatre employees had scribbled their names on the wall from over the years. There weren't all that many, but they did span from the 1970s to the late 1990s, which was pretty cool to see. It's always interesting to think about the people in places like this, especially considering that this theatre would've been packed on opening nights every weekend. Now it's just a dark and quiet room collecting dust. From here it was on to the projection rooms.