A few years back in the midst of an impromptu road trip I made a stop in the town of Fort Steele. Perhaps I should say former town, as today there is no actual town, but rather the remains of what once was, and is now a tourist attraction preserved just as it was in the 1800s.

Fort Steele is located in the East Kootenay region of British Columbia near the Alberta border.

Fort Steele Interior

The town was named after the famous Canadian Mountie, Sam Steele, after he solved a dispute with a local native band. Once the dominant town in the region (before, as the live actors/townspeople will tell you, the railroad was built through Cranbrook instead) It has everything a town could need, including two churches, one Catholic, and one, er, non- Catholic, a theatre, a general store/post office (the 1800s equivelent of a Shoppers Drug Mart), and even a masonic lodge.

Fort Steele General Store And Post Office

If ever you should be passing by the area, I highly recommend you stop by Fort Steele. You may just find yourself dreaming about what your life would have been like in this simpler time, free of computers, cell phones, and internet (gasp!).

The photos were processed with Lucy Starkiller.