Getting to Rowley

The drive from Calgary to Rowley was short enough to warrant the day trip, but long enough that we didn’t expect to see many others out there. It was just cold enough to feel a little eerie, and sunny enough to capture the long shadows of our 4:30 arrival.

Rowley had a population of about 500 at its peak in the 1920s, but suffered through subsequent decades. The closing of the train station in 1999 was the nail in this ghost town’s coffin. Rowley now boasts a population of 8 living people (ghost count yet to be determined).

Traveling through towns that are obviously not what they used to be can be a little sad. There was not a soul to be seen when we arrived.

An Alarming Noise

It seemed like nothing in the town had been modified since the 20s. Rowley is, in a way, an outdoor museum. The telegraph office door was partially ajar so, naturally, I tried to peek in.

Cue ear-piercing alarm penetrating through the entire town.

It was awful, and it didn’t stop. I wondered how alarms are disarmed in a ghost town. We considered leaving, but didn’t want to seem like we had committed a crime. So, we continued our tour of the town despite the painful noise.

After about fifteen minutes of walking around, we heard a truck start up on the other side of town. We watched it drive for about 30 seconds from a house to the community hall.

He made the terrible noise stop, we apologized for the trouble, and he drove the three blocks back to his house. I wondered how often that happens.

Not a Ghost

We were ready to go, so we started walking back towards the car. Near the car, leaning up against the community hall, was an old cowboy with his hands in his pockets. I had no idea where he had come from!

We chatted with him for a bit about the history of the town. Turns out he is the bartender at Sam’s Saloon, which is only open for a pizza night on the last Saturday of each month.

He let us into the saloon to take a look. It was pretty cool, sawdust all over the floor, grimy bar table. We chatted a bit more about the state of the world and the upcoming election, about some local hooligans who had been breaking in and stealing booze, and about the prized pizza nights.

Sam’s felt old, but still looked well-used. The pizza nights sound like a good time, although the logistics of getting home after a few drinks in the middle of nowhere seem complicated.

While we had planned to visit several ghost towns on our adventure, but a  late start limited us (we did make it down to Wayne, Alberta for dinner and a drink before heading home).

Visiting Rowley brought my imagination into another time. I would have liked to arrive about an hour earlier to get a bit more daylight, and I was inspired to go back on a pizza night.