Nemiscam, Alberta

Nemiscam, also known as Nemiskam, and originally known as Bingham, is an unincorporated community within the County of Forty Mile No. 8 in southern Alberta, Canada. The community is about 5 km east of Foremost and west of Etzikom, Alberta on Highway 61 and is administered by the County of Forty Mile No. 8.[1]

Nemiscam
Nemiskam
Bingham
Unincorporated community
Vacant store
Vacant store
Nemiscam is located in County of Forty Mile
Nemiscam
Nemiscam
Location in County of Forty Mile
Nemiscam is located in Alberta
Nemiscam
Nemiscam
Location in Alberta
Coordinates: 49°28′48″N 111°16′34″W
CountryCanada
ProvinceAlberta
RegionSouthern Alberta
Planning regionSouth Saskatchewan
Municipal districtForty Mile
Founded1915
Government
 • MPGlen Motz
 • MLAGrant Hunter
Time zoneUTC−7 (MST)
 • Summer (DST)UTC−6 (MDT)
Postal code span
NA
Area code+1-403
HighwaysHighway 61

The community is known as a ghost town by people in the area due to being near-vacant with a decent bit of abandoned buildings inside the former town. With the fact that the town is abandoned, it has become a minor tourism destination from locals in the nearby cities of Calgary, Medicine Hat and the nearby local area in general. The most prominent features of the ghost town are the sign that says "Future home of Kmart", and the abandoned Nemiskam Garage building, both located in the southern half of the ghost town along Township Road 63A.

The ghost town is 10 km east of town Foremost and 11 km west of the partially abandoned town of Etzikom. The town is located nearby to also ghost towns, such as Altorado which is located 11 km south, Conquerville which is about 19 km north, and Orion which is 33 km east.

The "Future Home of Kmart" sign located inside of Nemiskam is one of the most prominent features of the ghost town

History

Originally Nemiskam started off as a small community named Bingham located 1 km southwest of the new town site. Due to the bypassing of the railway the citizens of Bingham decided to settle in Nemiskam, some even bringing their homes, and businesses with them. During the community's prosperous years the community had a community hall, four grain elevators, a school, and a service station.

About 11 km south of Nemiskam was the old community of Altorado, which by 1913 had a population of over 100. With no long term future of Altorado, when the Canadian Pacific Rail service extended a trainline north of Altorado to the community of Bingham (nowadays Nemiskam), more and more people relocated from Altorado to Nemiskam. This eventually caused Altorado to become a ghost town similar to what Nemiskam is today.

Beginning in the 1960s Nemiskam's population was at a total of 54 residents, a few years after in 1966 the town's population went down to just 17 people. Today many of the original buildings and residents have once again picked up and moved to find better way of life, most moving to Foremost some even bringing their homes with them. In the early 1990s, the dying community would suffer another loss – its four grain elevators – leaving the community in a ghost town[2] state with only 6 buildings left.

Name origin

For many years Nemiskam or Nemiscam has had many disputes over the different ways of spelling the community's name. People and map companies of today spell the name with a “C” but many older folk like to spell it with a “K” as it was originally spelled on the towns long gone grain elevators, and community hall, Nemiskam with a “K” is native for “between two valleys”.

Media Coverage

CBC News on September 10, 2020 released a mini-documentary by the title of 'This Alberta ghost town has no services, but still has guests' covering the ghost town of Nemiskam. This mini-documentary would go into detail about how people have come far and wide to take photos and videos of the abandoned town, and how the old school house is "the most photographed abandoned building in Alberta".[3]

See also

References
  1. County of Forty Mile http://www.municipalaffairs.gov.ab.ca/cfml/profiles/data/0118_1.htm
  2. Ghost Towns of Alberta by Johnnie Bachusky (Nemiskam) https://www.ghosttownpix.com/alberta/nemiskam.html
  3. This Alberta ghost town has no services, but still has guests, retrieved April 7, 2023

49°28′48″N 111°16′34″W

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