A circus elephant marches in a parade down 50th Street on the occasion of a travelling circus visiting Provost. In the background you can see some curious spectators in front of the Foss & Brue Pioneer Store.

A small marching band on 50th Street in front of a relatively small crowd. You can see the impressive Canadian Bank of Commerce building at right, which was for a long time the most substantial building in Provost. Judging by the small number of people and the apparent lack of any grain elevators or rail grade in the background, this was taken on Dominion Day 1909, before the arrival of the railway.

A view showing the first St. Norbert's catholic church at Rosenheim, which was replaced in the 1920s by the much more impressive structure you see today. This church was built by Mr. Kluck.

A view of St. Norbert's church in Rosenheim. Judging by the cars, this photo was taken shortly after the Gothic Revival style church was completed in 1926.

This photo was taken from an elevator and gives an excellent view of Provost's Main Street. The tall building in the right foreground is the Commercial Hotel. The white building in the distance and further to the right is the old fire hall. In the distance at the end of the main street you can see the hospital, which is still separated from the rest of town by some fields. Also worth noting in the foreground in the middle of the intersection where the IGA now stands you can see the cenotaph that honours those who fell in service for Canada in the world wars. The cenotaph has since been moved.

Two boys frolick in a huge snow drift in the middle of 50th Street following a great blizzard in February 1948.

Huge snow drifts have blocked much of 50th Street following a great blizzard.

A quarter view of St. Mary's Catholic Church

A doctor's and dentists office at centre, beside the billiard parlor and barber shop.

The Billiard Parlor & Barber Shop was a hugely popular hangout in Provost from the 1910s well into the 1950s. Beside it we can see the 5 - 1.00 Store, selling jewelry and containing a beauty parlor.

The east side of 50th Street is visible here looking up towards the bank in the distance. This photo was taken for insurance company records in 1951, and in the foreground you can see Kluck's Drug Store, and behind it Johnstone's Hardware Store.

The Royal Theatre, built in the Art Deco style, and beside it the Club Cafe, owned by one of Provost's Chinese entrepreneurs. Many a date night started with a malt at the Club Cafe before catching a film at the theatre.

The shops on the northwest corner of 50th Street and 50th Avenue, showing Chamney's Store on the right.

The Starr Store, a popular clothing outlet, and beside it Burr's Grocery.

The three-storey Commercial Hotel as seen on a busy day in the 1950s. It would later be destroyed by fire and replaced by the Provost Motor Inn.

A view up 50th Street on a cold winter's day, looking past the Provost Motor Inn, which had replaced the Commercial Hotel after it burned down.

A colour aerial photo of Provost looking northeast over the town.

The right section of a panorama looking up 50th Street.

The left section of a panorama looking up 50th Street.

One of the first car dealerships in Provost, selling shiny new Chevrolets, was once located on this spot on 51st Street. The dealer has proudly lined up his automobiles for a photograph. As soon as cars became cheap enough for widespread ownership in the 1910s, Albertans embraced them with enormous enthusiasm. They were an exciting symbol of modernity, freedom, and success.

Dick's Photography Studio advertising Kodak cameras and photographic prints in the window.

A man, presumably one of the Stuckky Bros., poses for a photo with his company dump truck outside a home that has survived to this day.

This photograph was taken from atop one of the grain elevators that lined the railway track, looking towards 50th Street from the east. In the picture you can see at the far left the rear of the old Commercial Hotel, which is today occupied by the brown-sided Provost Motor Inn. Also at centre you can see the gable roof of the Canadian Bank of Commerce, one of the most prominent buildings in town in that period. It doesn't survive, but it was located directly facing across the street from today's old red brick bank building, which is visible.

In this birds eye view shot taken from the top of an elevator showing the east side of Provost, the most obvious difference is that all the trees that had just been planted along the boulevards have today grown into a great canopy shading much of Provost's neighbourhoods. Planting and tending to the trees on these boulevards was the hobby of one of the town's first police officers, Tom Morrell. He certainly left a lasting legacy to the community.
You can also see the steeple of St. Mary's Catholic Church along the skyline, and while today the building survives as the Seniors Community Centre, the steeple has been removed.

A grainy photo looking down the tracks that gives a good impression of the giant elevators that once towered over Provost.

A pre-railway view of the east side of 50th Street showing a number of wooden stores that have not survived to the present. It appears to have been a very hot summer day, and you can see many men and women standing under the awning in the shade peering back at the photographer.

The ruins of Pat's Garage after it burned down in the mid-1980s.

The fire hall that once stood on this piece of municipal property. The prominent bell tower makes it easy to spot from a distance, and would summon volunteer firefighters whenever the dreaded call of a fire came. The small building would be rendered obsolete by the enormously expanded space required to house a professional fire service and all their modern equipment.

A truck carrying a piece of equipment trundles down 51st Street, with the Fox Service Station visible at right.

A view from atop an elevator looking across the tracks into town. You can see a small train at the station with, it appears, two boxcars and a passenger car. Presumably the distinction between freight and passenger trains was not as hard and fast in the days when railways ruled the prairies.

A rather forlorn looking saddle-less horse stands in the street in front of the station. This picture must have been taken in 1910 or shortly thereafter as there are only two elevators yet built, though the tracks are crowded with boxcars.

Schoolchildren in uniform parade down 50th Street on July 1, 1927, the Diamond Jubilee (50th anniversary) of Canadian Confederation. This was the first time that Dominion Day (Canada Day today) was nationally observed, and a cause for great celebrations across the country.

The Lutheran Church in its original context. Today it has been relocated to the grounds of the Provost & District Museum and is a fascinating attraction.

Several men pose for a photo in front of Larson's Hardware Store, the oldest continually operating business in Provost.

A photo taken from the altar of the Lutheran church showing part of the congregation.

A photo taken from the altar of the Lutheran church showing part of the congregation.

A pastor gives a sermon at the Lutheran Church.

A pre-railway view of Provost's main street, showing clearly the storefronts on both sides of the street, including Foss & Brue's Pioneer Store on the foreground corner on the right, and Larson's Hardware Store on the foreground corner on the left.

A view down 50th Street on a winter's day in the 1980s. Notable is the grain elevator still standing at the end of the street and dominating the skyline.

People stand amidst piled up goods on the railway platform as a train chugs into the station.

A winter day in the 1980s showing Pat's Garage (left middle distance) shortly before it burned down.

The smouldering remains of the Provost Hotel (previously known as the Commercial Hotel) after it burned down in 1980 after a fire started in the basement. This institution had stood since 1908, and was replaced by the Provost Motor Inn.

The B - A Service Station showing two pumps on the street out front.

A man welds a piece of farm equipment in the deeply rutted road in front of the blacksmith and welding shop that once stood on this spot.

St. Mary's Catholic Church is under construction in this early photo.

Teachers and students pose for a school photo out front of the old red brick schoolhouse in this slightly distorted photo.

Two men on a cart pose for a photo in front of the shed-sized Lutheran Church. It would be superseded by a much more suitably sized house of worship shortly after.

The first Foss & Brue Pioneer Store that stood on this spot. It was a tent.

The Art Deco inspired Harford Store, a clothing outlet.

A couple buildings on 50th Avenue, directly across the street from the train station. The building at right was the laundry operated by the Wah Brothers, who had purchased it from Provost's first Chinese pioneer, Lee Lung.

The Provost Locker Plant which had a rather distinctive facade and hipped roof.

The E.G. Meiklejohn Garage, with a man, presumably Meiklejohn, showing off his new touring car.

The Methodist Church in 1914 shortly after its construction. It has since been replaced by a much larger church.

Two businesses on 50th Avenue, the one at left is Murat Plumbing and Heating.

A young family watch as a several men use an Imperial Oil tanker car to fill up a truck with gas.

A photo of Pat's Garage, which once stood on this spot.

A good view of the Provost Hotel in the 1940s. Notice the cenotaph at right, which once stood at the end of 50th Street but has since been relocated.

A view of St. Norbert's from the front.

A distant aerial view of Provost taken from the northeast.