Driving Tour
A Journey Through Time
Exploring the Provost District's Rich History
By Andrew Farris
Welcome to the Provost historic driving tour, where we will take you on a journey back in time through the fascinating history of this region. We'll be making four stops, and you are encouraged to get out and explore when you reach each one.
1. The Provost & District Museum, which has extensive indoor and outdoor collections.
2. Downtown Provost, where there is a separate walking tour available in this app, called Provost's Pioneer Era. We encourage you to check it out!
3. St. Norbert's Church in Rosenheim, a remarkable example of Gothic Revival architecture in the middle of the prairie.
4. The Bodo Archaeological Site and Centre, a bison kill pound that had been in continual use by the First Peoples for at least 5,000 years. It is one of the most remarkable ongoing archaeological excavations in Canada.
Before visiting the Provost Museum and the Bodo Archaeological Site, it is a good idea to check their hours of operation which can be subject to seasonal change. Their websites are linked above.
This project is a partnership with the Town of Provost, with assistance provided by the Provost & District Museum.
1. Tourist Information Centre
We begin here at the Tourist Information Centre, from where we will set out.
At the beginning of each leg of the journey, you can start the audio for that leg and listen as you drive. There are audio driving instructions included, and you can also follow along with mapping directions by selecting the map toggle in this app. You can use your own preferred map app for directions, the audio from the tour will continue playing in the background. The audio segments are timed to coincide with the driving time. The total driving time is about 35 minutes, covering a distance of 37 km.
Let's go exploring!
2. Provost & District Museum
Our first stop is the Provost & District Museum, which is located just a short drive away at the southwest corner of town. To reach there from the Tourist Information Centre, turn left, back on to 57 Ave which runs parallel to the highway, and drive two blocks. When the road ends at 53 Street turn left again. Continue south for 1.5 kilometres where you'll cross the railroad tracks and then the road will end with a yield sign on 49 Ave. There you'll turn right and after 300 metres you will see signs for the museum on your right. Follow the signs up the short dirt road that will take you to the museum. It's the large white building with the green roof.
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The interior gallery space is huge, and covers an enormous range of the town's history, with galleries and exhibits focusing on agriculture, sports, firefighting, fashion, medicine, oil, and the world wars, just to name a few. In 2015 the museum celebrated a huge expansion with an outdoor heritage village just behind the main building. Called 'Main Street Provost', you are able to wander in and explore a number of historic buildings that have been transported to this site, many of which have fascinating interior exhibits themselves. The buildings include Bodo's Lutheran Church from 1910, the T. Eaton Home from 1917, the so-called Bachelor House dating to 1934, and the historic Stainsleigh and Westridge schools, which have fully restored classrooms from the early 20th century. In addition to some other buildings, there's also impressive outdoor collections of farm equipment, construction machines, and major pieces of railway history.
The exhibits give a tangible sense of what life was like for those pioneers on the prairies, and it is easy to spend a whole afternoon exploring this remarkable collection.
3. Downtown Provost
ca. 1908
Next we are visiting Downtown Provost. This is the shortest leg of our tour, about two minutes long. To get to the heart of the town, head back out the museum's driveway and turn left onto 49 Ave to come back the way you came. Turn left again back onto 53 Street and then after you cross the train tracks, turn right onto 50 Ave. Go forward just three blocks to 50 Street and you'll be in the heart of downtown Provost. There's plenty of parking.
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The community quickly grew into the main hub for the region, with farmers coming to Provost to drop their grain in elevators where it was destined for international markets. The town successfully bid on the regional hospital, which further cemented its status as the main service centre for the region. After the Second World War, the discovery of oil in the region aided its economic prosperity.
Today Provost has a population of around 2,000 and remains a regional hub. You should be reaching the downtown core now and we strongly encourage you to get out and take a stroll along 50th Street and see the many local businesses thriving in this town. If you want to learn more about Provost you can take the walking tour available in this app, Provost's Pioneer Era, which tells the stories of the people, places, and ideas that shaped the development of this community.
4. St. Norbert's Church
ca. 1920s
Our next leg of the journey takes us south to Rosenheim, to visit St. Norbert's Roman Catholic Church. This remarkable church stands out on the prairie as an unmistakeable symbol of the determination and spirit of the pioneers who first settled here over a century ago.
To get there from downtown Provost, you can continue east along 50 Ave, running parallel to the railway, until you get to 43rd Street where you can turn right and cross the tracks. The road will curve to the left and quickly intersect with highway 899. There you can turn right to head south, and drive for about 9 kilometres until you reach Township Road 382. Here turn left and continue east for about 4 kilometres until you see the great red church and its white steeple coming into view. The drive should take about 14 minutes.
Listen to the audio version for an interview with Louise Schug, a leading member of the Rosenheim Historical Society.
5. Bodo Archaeological Site & Centre
Our next and final stop is at the Bodo Archaeological Site & Centre, about a 15 minute drive from here. To get there continue east from the church along Township Road 382, and then, after about 5 kilometres, turn right at Range Road 14. Continue south down Range Road 14 for 12 kilometres, where you'll enter Bodo, and you can turn left onto Township Road 370A. After a short distance, you'll see the Bodo Archaeological Centre on your right, which is located inside a former school. There is plenty of signage and it should easy to find.
The Bodo Archaeological Site is a jewel of the region. There is an incredible amount to be learned there about the First Peoples and the means by which they thrived on these prairies for many, many thousands of years.
Listen to the audio version for an eye-opening interview with Courtney Lakevold, President of the Bodo Archaeological Society.
