The warm Saskatchewan sun made the area look bright, attractive and welcoming. Bird talks along with the smell of wildflowers made it impossible to even think about wasting such a day indoors.
Fortunately, Tourism Estevan and the Souris Valley Museum did think it through and reserved a great option for such occasions, which I haven't had a chance to explore until last week.
I got into the vehicle and 10 minutes later parked in downtown Estevan, excited to experience the city through the Historic Walking Tour. While the tour starts at the intersection of 11th Avenue and Third Street, I chose a broad parking lot behind RBC and walked back one block before I turned the free Tripvia app on.
The quiet-looking police station behind me became the original point of the tour. The pleasant man's voice turned out to be my companion for the next hour as I enjoyed a great time outdoors, learning a lot of new and interesting facts.
The tour, really easy to navigate, offered both a map, showing the entire route with stops marked on it, as well as the pictures of the attractions, accompanied by written and oral stories. The initial tutorial had answers to all questions I had popping in my head and it took me under five minutes to figure everything out and get going.
"Welcome to Estevan's Historic Walking Tour! We are happy to have you join us on a tour of our city! You will see heritage buildings, historical landmarks that still exist today, and hear about our city's stories that will not be forgotten. Let's get started!" said my guide, inviting me to start walking.
Once I did, the history of the downtown, the area and the people who built this community came alive.
Walking from one gorgeous building to another and listening to the stories of those citizens who inhabited them sometimes 100, sometimes 50 years ago, I immersed myself in the atmosphere of Saskatchewan's early days.
The first stop of the tour was the P.C. Duncan house, a beautiful building put up in 1905 that belonged to one of the former Estevan mayors, who also was involved with many local businesses. Listening to Mr. Duncan's story, and looking at his elegant house, I could imagine teas hosted in his living room and dances happening in his general store.
The stops of the tour, nicely distanced, allowed me time to absorb the information and also to appreciate other houses and yards alongside the route. While walking down Third and other streets and avenues in downtown Estevan, I realized that I've hardly ever paid attention to this neighbourhood. Driving through I always was more worried about keeping an eye out for kids or animals, rather than appreciating the architecture of these authentic buildings.
Unique and very different, houses downtown were filled with history, but also surrounded by beauty. Several times I stopped just to look at how nicely the yards were decorated, admiring the work people put into it.
The tour was filled with little fun facts, and also had some trivia questions along the way to make it a bit more fun. It braided the names of people who built Estevan into the city landscape, connected the history with real places and filled the neighbourhood with meaningful stories. The first local mayors, and entrepreneurs, craftsmen and artists appear on the front steps of the houses as I was listening to the stories of D.C. Dunbar, the editor of the Estevan Mercury, and famous poet Eli Mandel attending services in a local synagogue, as I was learning which house was considered Estevan's most stunning, how the house of the builder who built half of Estevan looked, and which building probably saw the most sales in the entire community.
Once I approached the courthouse, I decided to take a little break and enjoy the shade on the bench, while still listening about a few attractions nearby. When the guide started on the story of Black Tuesday, the 1931 riot, I closed my eyes and with the noise from construction, I could easily see the miners standing at that corner, fighting for their rights and for the rights of many generations to come.
When I was nearing the completion of the tour I received a bonus – my fitness tracker vibrated celebrating that I reached my daily step goal. The official length of the tour is 2.75 kilometres, but I made a few loops when walking around buildings trying to see some details or just visualizing Estevan pioneers living there.
After a beautiful afternoon out on the town, my inner historian instantly started demanding more. And while one tour was enough for the day, the next plan was already in place, as Tourism Estevan has also developed the Backroads of Estevan Tour.
