Where skyscrapers once stood Traditional Cache
Where skyscrapers once stood
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(small)
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This cache requires a short hike through long grass. Make sure to check for ticks afterward!
There used to be several elevators near this site, but they have been gone for ten years now. Elevators were once the defining landmarks of the Saskatchewan landscape, but now very few exist. Their loss spelled the end of the railroad in Radville. For more information about this site, see the cache contents!
In the general area where the recycling station stands now was once the location of Radville’s grain elevators. Grain elevators remain the iconic symbol of Saskatchewan, the “skyscrapers” of the prairies despite the fact that most of them have disappeared from Saskatchewan’s landscape. The presence of these “prairie giants” was a physical symbol of the importance of agriculture to Saskatchewan’s livelihood.
Nearly all towns had a grain elevator, even the smallest villages. The first grain elevator in Radville, built by the Saskatchewan Co-operative Elevator Company in 1911, would have been a welcome addition for local farmers. Before the elevators arrived here, area farmers had to haul their grain to Weyburn. With horse and wagon this took at least 2 days round trip. As homesteaders flocked to Saskatchewan, grain elevators were built every 6-10 miles (10-15km) to enable farmers to haul their grain much shorter distances.
Eventually, there were four grain elevators in Radville. They changed hands and names several times throughout their history. The Midland elevator was lost to fire in 1929. The elevators remained important through the majority of the twentieth-century.
By the late ‘90s, the elevator were being used less and less. Changes in transportation infrastructure meant that many branch rail lines were no longer used. Farmers now hauled grain to large terminals at Weyburn using large grain trucks and semi-trailers, and the local elevators became obsolete. In 2001, the two United Grain Growers (UGG) were torn down, and in 2002 the last elevator in Radville, the Saskatchewan Wheat Pool, was also demolished. For some, the demolition of the elevators was an emotional experience as they watched a hallmark of this region’s past reduced to a heap of debris that was soon cleared away by bulldozers. For others, their loss represented a new era of agriculture. Whatever one’s personal feelings, there can be no doubt that their absence has left Radville a very different place. The demise of grain elevators also spelled the end for the use of railroad in Radville. Flashing railway lights became a thing of the past, and as you can see your immediate right, the tracks are now overgrown with weeds.
It appears some things have come full circle. Just as in the days before the train arrived in Radville, farmers must again haul their grain to Weyburn. Now it is a much easier enterprise, however; rather than a two-day round trip with horse and wagon, farmers now haul their grain in semi-trailers or large grain trucks. It is possible to take two or more loads in one day. Radville is still largely an agricultural community although, the harvest-time lineups of grain trucks waiting to bring their loads to the elevators is a thing of the past.
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