A forgotten Saskatchewan ghost town has newfound fame after an urban explorer splashed images of it on YouTube, prompting newspaper coverage in England.Insinger, all-but abandoned, is just off the Yellowhead Highway in southeastern Saskatchewan, about 200 km northeast of ReginaDave, a photographer known online as 'Freaktography,' travelled to the location to share footage with his 88,500 YouTube subscribers, introducing them to a place everyone else had said goodbye to."There's a Ukrainian church here behind me that has a bunch of little abandoned buildings in the ghost town. So, we're going to check this place out. So let's go guys!" he said."It's a very small little Ukrainian church. It's got some graffiti, no windows," he commented..The back door open, Dave walked in. Besides his voice, only the chirping of birds broke the silence."Wow, eh?! These Ukrainian churches are so nice," he said.The church, which seemed in good shape on the outside, showed disrepair on the inside, with debris scattered on the floor. Some ceiling tiles had fallen down and the carpet was half-ripped up. Even so, golden crosses and artwork and a blue-tiled ceiling remained as reminders of more vibrant times.A plaque was placed on the building in 1998, commemorating the school.The plaque reads, "Insinger School number 4164. In 1918, a Presbyterian church near the village of Insinger served as a one-room all-grades classroom until 1921. In 1921, a one room classroom school was erected. In 1929 a new school with two classrooms was built on this site. This school was closed in 1967.".Dave took a tentative step in before going further, enough to get a few visuals."Oh, it doesn't look good in here guys. just get a quick look here, okay? Because it's all falling apart here," he said.The former school looked every bit like a building abandoned for 55 years. Classrooms once full of the sounds of teachers and children were silent and empty. Collapsed wood and rubbish were scattered on the floors..A few other neglected buildings were posted on the Freaktography page where Dave offered some commentary."The town’s decline can be attributed to a combination of factors common to many rural communities, including depopulation due to economic shifts, changes in agricultural practices, and improvements in transportation that have made larger centers more accessible," he explained..Dave's video and pictures prompted an article about the "eerie" ghost town in the U.'s Daily Mail. A reader from the US commented, "So sadly symbolic of the times we live in, old values abandoned and left to rot, a world turned upside down, nothing making sense anymore."Not all in Insinger is in disrepair. A look on Google Maps finds the community still has a post office that opens four hours on Thursdays starting at 9 am. The Rural Municipality of Isinger still has its office there. The waterworks building seems no worse for wear.Insinger was first incorporated as a village on May 14, 1921 and its population peaked at 135 residents in 1956. In its heyday, it had four general stores, two garages, a hotel, a cafe, a community hall, more than one church, and a skating rink. Its grain elevators were torn down in 1999.The community fell to 72 in 1971, 56 in 1976, 39 in 1981, and was a hamlet of 20 in 2001. The village was dissolved in 2003 and taken over by the RM. The church explored in the video is the Ukrainian Greek Orthodox Church of the Descent of the Holy Ghost. It was built in 1942 and designated a municipal heritage property in 1988.
A forgotten Saskatchewan ghost town has newfound fame after an urban explorer splashed images of it on YouTube, prompting newspaper coverage in England.Insinger, all-but abandoned, is just off the Yellowhead Highway in southeastern Saskatchewan, about 200 km northeast of ReginaDave, a photographer known online as 'Freaktography,' travelled to the location to share footage with his 88,500 YouTube subscribers, introducing them to a place everyone else had said goodbye to."There's a Ukrainian church here behind me that has a bunch of little abandoned buildings in the ghost town. So, we're going to check this place out. So let's go guys!" he said."It's a very small little Ukrainian church. It's got some graffiti, no windows," he commented..The back door open, Dave walked in. Besides his voice, only the chirping of birds broke the silence."Wow, eh?! These Ukrainian churches are so nice," he said.The church, which seemed in good shape on the outside, showed disrepair on the inside, with debris scattered on the floor. Some ceiling tiles had fallen down and the carpet was half-ripped up. Even so, golden crosses and artwork and a blue-tiled ceiling remained as reminders of more vibrant times.A plaque was placed on the building in 1998, commemorating the school.The plaque reads, "Insinger School number 4164. In 1918, a Presbyterian church near the village of Insinger served as a one-room all-grades classroom until 1921. In 1921, a one room classroom school was erected. In 1929 a new school with two classrooms was built on this site. This school was closed in 1967.".Dave took a tentative step in before going further, enough to get a few visuals."Oh, it doesn't look good in here guys. just get a quick look here, okay? Because it's all falling apart here," he said.The former school looked every bit like a building abandoned for 55 years. Classrooms once full of the sounds of teachers and children were silent and empty. Collapsed wood and rubbish were scattered on the floors..A few other neglected buildings were posted on the Freaktography page where Dave offered some commentary."The town’s decline can be attributed to a combination of factors common to many rural communities, including depopulation due to economic shifts, changes in agricultural practices, and improvements in transportation that have made larger centers more accessible," he explained..Dave's video and pictures prompted an article about the "eerie" ghost town in the U.'s Daily Mail. A reader from the US commented, "So sadly symbolic of the times we live in, old values abandoned and left to rot, a world turned upside down, nothing making sense anymore."Not all in Insinger is in disrepair. A look on Google Maps finds the community still has a post office that opens four hours on Thursdays starting at 9 am. The Rural Municipality of Isinger still has its office there. The waterworks building seems no worse for wear.Insinger was first incorporated as a village on May 14, 1921 and its population peaked at 135 residents in 1956. In its heyday, it had four general stores, two garages, a hotel, a cafe, a community hall, more than one church, and a skating rink. Its grain elevators were torn down in 1999.The community fell to 72 in 1971, 56 in 1976, 39 in 1981, and was a hamlet of 20 in 2001. The village was dissolved in 2003 and taken over by the RM. The church explored in the video is the Ukrainian Greek Orthodox Church of the Descent of the Holy Ghost. It was built in 1942 and designated a municipal heritage property in 1988.
