A Last Look
These are the Garden Apartments. Even though the town was gearing down, the population was dwindling, and there was no shortage of accommodation, these beautiful homes were built in the the mid sixties, only a few years before everything shut down. It was not built by private development but was part of the company town infrastructure. Today, these homes still stand, but barely. There are tall trees growing up through the carports, the roofs leak and the interiors are rotting and unsalvageable. 
Front street on an evening when the several inches of rain turned to snow. This is the street where the executives of the mill lived. It was always pretty here. Today, these houses are gone, the concrete pavement is heaved, cracked and overgrown, and is barely recognisable as more than a path through the underbrush.
Click on the picture to enlarge. 1. Site of a big mud and rock slide in 1965 where several houses and their occupants were swept into the ocean. An apartment block was also damaged and the credit union was swept to the ocean's edge. Seven people perished that night and the town was evacuated across the bridge to the mill site. 2. The Gospel Fellowship Hall where I lived with my sister. We were almost the highest building in town. It was 227 wooden steps from the front door to the bridge that separated the town from the mill. 3. The empty space is where the school was. When it burned down, so did the steps. My brother-in-law and I hacked a crude trail down the slope through the Salmon Berry bushes for a shortcut. It was a long way around if we went to town via the roads. 4. The Cedars Apartment where Lis and I lived the whole time we were together in Ocean Falls. Very nice location and in spite of being built in the 30's and being a loud and echoing structure, it was home and we like it.
These are the Garden Apartments. Even though the town was gearing down, the population was dwindling, and there was no shortage of accommodation, these beautiful homes were built in the the mid sixties, only a few years before everything shut down. It was not built by private development but was part of the company town infrastructure. Today, these homes still stand, but barely. There are tall trees growing up through the carports, the roofs leak and the interiors are rotting and unsalvageable. 
Front street on an evening when the several inches of rain turned to snow. This is the street where the executives of the mill lived. It was always pretty here. Today, these houses are gone, the concrete pavement is heaved, cracked and overgrown, and is barely recognisable as more than a path through the underbrush.
Click on the picture to enlarge. 1. Site of a big mud and rock slide in 1965 where several houses and their occupants were swept into the ocean. An apartment block was also damaged and the credit union was swept to the ocean's edge. Seven people perished that night and the town was evacuated across the bridge to the mill site. 2. The Gospel Fellowship Hall where I lived with my sister. We were almost the highest building in town. It was 227 wooden steps from the front door to the bridge that separated the town from the mill. 3. The empty space is where the school was. When it burned down, so did the steps. My brother-in-law and I hacked a crude trail down the slope through the Salmon Berry bushes for a shortcut. It was a long way around if we went to town via the roads. 4. The Cedars Apartment where Lis and I lived the whole time we were together in Ocean Falls. Very nice location and in spite of being built in the 30's and being a loud and echoing structure, it was home and we like it. 
3 comments:
Your story of the engagement and wedding of you and Lis and life in Ocean Falls has been enjoyable reading. The photos have been interesting as well. Thanks for sharing these memories with your readers. Your stories should be treasured as wonderful memories by your children and future generations.
Thanks. Only a few more posts and this project is over.
Yes, I echo what Susan has said. I've very much enjoyed the photos and the memories you've shared. Thank you.
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