Everywhere I drive, I see grain bins, old and new, big and small - used for storing bushels of grain for livestock. Above are three grain bins, and below are storage silos and a grain elevator I drove by in Saskatchewan last summer (my photos.) To learn of the importance of these structures in Canadian history, this is an interersting article: http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Grain_elevatorI find these fascinating because Thunder Bay Ontario where I grew up was the terminal for wheat from out west, where trains would pour the grain into ships, or to store in elevators. My grandfather was a Federal Grain Inspector, and very proud of his job. He even appears in an old B&W National Film Board film about the grain elevators, inspecting grain "in his suit!" (I guess he dressed up for the occasion.
The elevators in Thunder Bay have been torn down or are sitting dormant now - a goverment decision that really affected employment as the majority of grain was redirected to Hudson Bay. For a picture of Saskatchewan Wheat Pool in Thunder Bay, at the head of Lake Superior, you can actually check Wikipedia here! - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grain_elevator. This article shows a pictures of Sask Wheat Pool No. 7 which was the longest grain elevator in the world when it was built in Thunder Bay.
The photo above was taken by Gary Rich and is from a great website gallery of grain elevator photos - http://www.grainelevators.ca/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/3700 This photo is of Sask Pool (8 or 4?) in Thunder Bay, with one of the lakers beside it. This time of year the lakers started showing up on a regular basis to load up. I suppose that is why it is on my mind as I sit here in Alberta seeing the grain from the other end. I grew up always within view of the lake, boats and elevators. I miss them.These YouTube links show the demolition of Thunder Bay Pool Six which was demolished in 2000. I was there that day. It was very sad personally as it marked the end of an era and I thought of my grandfather.
Some people are converting grain bins into beautiful homes - I know it is hard t believe - check out these links:
I really enjoy this blog about the praries. I too am a photographer and am from saskatchewan
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