Eventide Cemetery (Wheatland County)

In 1926, the Alberta minister of agriculture announced that the provincial government would assist the Salvation Army to care for indigent old people by turning the former agricultural school at Gleichen over to the Salvation Army, along with property up to twenty acres. “Eventide Home” was chosen as the name of the institution, which in 1947 was listed as having 115 beds.

The home was opened in August of 1926. Improvements showed the growth of the Home. In 1931 the second building was finished and put in shape for use for the bed patients. It was financed by the provincial government. In Oct. of 1938, the south end of the second building was finished and furnished by the Salvation Army for further hospital use. A small dwelling owned by Mr. Glen House was bought and moved to the home property. After it was extended and modernized it was used for housing the male staff. Part of the old CPR freight shed, which contained some very good hardwood material, was bought and moved to the property and made into a fine modern laundry. In 1938 the government farm located next to the home, was purchased and a barn was built to house Holstein cows.

In July of 1935, a terrible hailstorm destroyed the lawns, gardens and trees. The stones broke 450 panes of glass and tore off shingles on the north and west side of each building, besides doing hundreds of dollars worth of damage to curtains, furniture, etc.. Eventide Home was closed in 1960 and the men moved to other government homes.

Although the Eventide Home has been closed for many years and the derelict building torn down, a cemeteries rejuvenation project in 2015 saw County of Wheatland crews working to remove overgrown vegetation and broken grave covers, as well as to repair monuments, not only at the county-owned Gleichen Community Cemetery, but at the two adjacent cemeteries, the Eventide Cemetery and the Roman Catholic Cemetery. Funding for this project came in part from the County of Wheatland.

Sources

“The Gleichen call : a history of Gleichen and surrounding areas, 1877-1968”, 1968, (CU12633677) by Gleichen United Church of Women. Courtesy of Local Histories Collection, Libraries and Cultural Resources Digital Collections, University of Calgary.

https://digitalcollections.ucalgary.ca/CS.aspx?VP3=SearchResult&VBID=2R3BXZY0IZNPO&PN=1&WS=PackagePres#/SearchResult&VBID=2R3BXZY9D0HPR&PN=1&WS=PackagePress