According to Wikipedia there are 37 documented places with a single resident. There may of course be many more not yet listed on Wikipedia, so if you know of one, leave a comment here and I might just edit the Wikipedia page myself!

Onwards to our whirlwind tour, are you ready? Let’s go!

In Canada, there the towns of Raley and Masinasin in Alberta; and in Saskatchewan the towns of Crichton, Estuary, Loomis Ravenscrag, South Fork and Vidora

To Estonia next, and the villages of Koipsi and Rammu which are on neighbouring islands.

The Faroe Islands are next with Nesvík and Mjørkadalur.

Onwards to France and the village of Rochefourchat, with its single house and church. Moving south to New Zealand and the village of Cass. Back North to Polana in Poland and Naimakka, a weather station, in Sweden (you can read about Naimakka’s resident via Google Translate).

To England next with Hilbre Island and Steep Holm (we’re half way through, hope you can keep up!) Scotland is next on the list with Eilean Donan (once home to Connor MacLeod), Forewick Holm, Innis Chonan, Sanda and Shuna.

Finally, to the final country on our tour, the United States, where the state of Maine has Criehaven and Hibberts Gore, Minnesota has Kiel Township and the oddly named Township 157-30, New Hampshire has Dix’s Grant and Green’s Grant. Then there’s Bonanza in Utah, Hanks in North Dakota, Hobart Bay in Alaska, Holy City in California, Laurier in Washington state, Monowi in Nebraska and last, but by no means least, Oil Springs Reservation in New York state.

Most of the places we visited today have an entry in Wikipedia, where you can usually find more information about what happened to these places. Many of the towns are on the verge of becoming proper ghost towns, but for people in others there is a strange sense of pride that comes from being the only resident.

Locations: Alaska, Alberta, California, England, Estonia, Faroe Islands, France, Maine, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New York, New Zealand, Poland, Saskatchewan, Scotland, Sweden, Utah, Washington, Wyoming / Categories: Abandoned, Weirdness

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No matter how big or small your town is, every year people must apparently be made aware that there are other people there who are graduating. For example, one wonders if the residents of Major, Saskatchewan (most recent census population: 67) would have been aware of such a momentous occasion in 2009 if it hadn’t have been painted on the pavement of the main street?

One way to broadcast your cohort’s sheer awesomeness is to tag your local dilapidated tourist attraction. On the left in Creston, British Columbia, we see that Grad ’09 has successfully claimed this old grain elevator, one of just five such elevators left in the province. On the right, we see that Grad ’06 (along with many others) have laid claim to Greenwood, BC’s famous Tunnel of Flags, where the flags of every country on Earth have been painted on the side of an abandoned early 1900s road tunnel. Hey, now, just because it was covered in paint already…

Often, graffiti battles between different classes break out, such as on this water tower in Wilkie, Saskatchewan. Apparently prized for both its prominent visibility and the difficulty of getting to the top, we can see a turf war has broken out amongst the classes of 2007, 2008, and 2009. One class has even resorted to calling the ’09 grads “dumb”; presumably this brilliant quip was the knockout blow.

The natural environment for grad tags is the vaunted overpass, where thousands of vehicles each day can be reminded about graduation time. Some classes invest more time than others; rather than just spray paint on the side, each year this overpass in Sydney River, Nova Scotia is repainted in full with a new design by students from Riverview High School in neighbouring Coxheath.

You don’t have to live near a high school to find grad tags in Canada. Even along the most remote stretches of highway, one can find messages displayed in high-visibility areas for travellers to see. Deep in the northern Rocky Mountains, Pine Pass is an hour from the nearest school and even still is covered with graffiti of all sorts, such as this message from Grad ’04.

One of the densest accumulations of grad tags may be a stretch of Highway 10 just outside of Flin Flon, Manitoba. Flin Flon lies on the thinly-soiled Canadian Shield, which means many highways in the region are incised directly into the bedrock. The open rock cuts are ripe for graffiti, and the highway leading south out of Flin Flon is filled with names and messages from various graduating classes dating back decades.

The ultimate grad tag paradise, however, may be the colourful Kerrobert Graffiti Barn in western Saskatchewan, where every year since 1977 the grad class of Kerrobert Composite School have taken over an entire barn at the north entrance to town and given each student their own slice of the edifice.

What the… hey, Ken, quit hogging all the attention! This barn was supposed to be for Grad ’09, not Grad ‘41!

Locations: British Columbia, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, Saskatchewan / Categories: Large Type, Rudeness

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The Palliser Triangle is the name given to the driest part of the Canadian Prairies, constituting southeast Alberta and southwest Saskatchewan. Settled at the turn of the 20th century by farmers and ranchers, dozens of tiny villages sprung up to support these new agricultural pioneers (“drylanders”). Many found that within a generation or two, the semi-arid soil quickly became overgrazed and was prone to periods of extreme drought. While modern farming techniques have helped mitigate the hard times, the exodus of people from the Triangle has been steady for the past few decades, leaving numerous ghost towns listing in the wind.

One of the most memorable ghost towns in the Triangle is Robsart, Saskatchewan. Formerly a bustling town with over 50 businesses in the 1920s, today Robsart’s population is listed as just 15 residents.

Shells of the town’s businesses sit amongst brushes, shrubs, and old sidewalks, such as this former lumber store. This Victorian-style hospital has sat neglected at the edge of town since the 1930s, while the community hall, last refurbished decades ago, still bears the symbol of Canada’s 1967 centennial.

An hour and a bit’s drive to the southeast lie a handful of buildings that represent the modern extent of the former town of Claydon, including a private home that doubles as the area’s post office. Just off to the left lie the ruins of the Claydon General Store.

The southwesternmost locality in Saskatchewan is the ghost town of Govenlock, which boomed in the 1920s as a liquor-trading town near the US border, only to fade away in the following decades. The last of the buildings were demolished in 1990, and today Google’s aerial view allows us to just barely make out the old building foundations and dead spots of grass marking the town’s location. Up close, all that remain are the 1948 community hall, a commemorative plaque, and a lonely mailbox.

Throughout the Palliser Triangle, one can find the relics of days gone by. Near what used to be the town of Loomis, a cluster of homestead buildings sit quietly at the side of the dusty road; a frozen tribute to those that once toiled this semi-arid land. Elsewhere, on a small plot of land near Cadillac, Saskatchewan, an old one-room schoolhouse sits all alone on the undulating plain.

Even towns that are still hanging on have seen better days. From above, one would be hard-pressed to even recognise Orion, Alberta as a town, and drivers passing by on the highway see their fair share of dilapidated buildings. But yet Orion still hangs on; its existence confirmed by the community store, the lifeline of many a prairie town.

Along the railways on the Prairies, it’s common to see Grain elevators. This old elevator in Dollard, Saskatchewan has seen better days, as has the town’s United Church.

Many communities that have survived the hard times have made an effort to preserve regional history, such as Etzikom, Alberta, where a rather unusual museum features dozens of turn-of-the-century windmills that have been brought to the site and restored.

Sadly, there are some places in the Palliser Triangle that have no buildings left to mark their existence, only cemeteries.

Locations: Alberta, Saskatchewan / Categories: Abandoned, Street Views

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You have to imagine that quite a bit of work goes into naming a new place. I wonder what early pioneers were thinking when they came across these places. Perhaps they had an abundance of forks? Fork, MD and Fork, SC.

What good would a fork be without a solid cutting knife alongside? Cut Knife, Saskatchewan!

Surprisingly enough, Cut Knife is home to the world’s largest tomahawk – which, while not strictly a kitchen implement, could certainly be of assistance on occasion.

Down in southern Florida we find Coffeepot Bayou – to help you get through those rough morning hours!

Plate, Germany offers us the perfect place to serve our food…

Although don’t forget DISH, TX! Although actually, the town renamed itself from Clark to DISH (all caps intentional) in 2005 after making a commercial agreement with a satellite TV company. What did the residents get out of it? Free satellite TV of course… for ten years!

How about some lunch? Looking around we found some Rye in New York, and some Cheddar in the United Kingdom! Before you ask – no this village wasn’t named after the cheese, rather the cheese was named for the village where it was invented! However today, Cheddar today produces more strawberries than anything else. Perhaps a re-naming is in order.

Now all we need is some good ol’ corned beef. Wait! Found it! Burnt Corn, AL and Beef Island, Tortola.

Maybe later we can make some punch and serve it in the punch bowl? If we’re really feeling adventurous we could serve it in the Devil’s punch bowl – there’s quite a few to choose from!

Previously on Google Sightseeing: The world’s Longest Place Names, the brilliantly named Fucking, Austria, the Top Ten Confusing Place Names, and of course the Top Ten rudest place names in Canada, America and Britain.

Thanks to Jonathan!

Locations: Alabama, California, Germany, Maryland, New York, North Dakota, Saskatchewan, South Carolina, Texas, U.S. Minor Outlying Islands, United Kingdom / Categories: Weirdness

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Most meteors that arrive at Earth burn up in the atmosphere, and others are washed away by our moving surface and erosion. Regardless, if you know where to look, you might be surprised how many impact craters you can find. As with part one of this series. we’re going to look at some of the most visible:

Clearwater Lakes, Canada – These two lakes were formed simultaneously from a meteor that broke apart in our atmosphere and crashed into the surface over 290 million years ago. The largest of the lakes is over 20 miles (32 km) across! As you can guess by their name, both are known for their remarkably clear water.

Bosumtwi, Ghana – This nearly perfect circular crater is Ghana’s only natural lake. Carved out of crystalline bedrock found in the West African Shield, Lake Bosumtwi was formed over 1.3 million years ago. The crater is an impressive 6 miles (10.5 km) across.

Deep Bay, Canada – Another striking circular crater, this lake in Saskatchewan, Canada was formed around 100 million years ago by a very large meteorite. The impact left a hole 8 miles (13 km) wide that over time filled with water from nearby Reindeer Lake.

Wolfe Creek, Australia – This relatively young and small crater has been preserved in the arid desert of northern Australia. It’s partially buried under the continuous streams of sand that blows through the region. Estimated to be a mere 300,000 years old, this crater is less than a kilometer wide and was only discovered by scientists in 1947.

Aorounga Crater, Chad – Yet another crater somewhat preserved by a desert landscape, the Aorounga Crater in Africa is almost 8 miles (12.9 km) wide. But when the area was scanned by Space Shuttle SIR-C radar, images revealed two more rings of similar size (possibly 2 more craters) to the east of the visible crater. If all of these craters were formed at once, scientists believe the meteor could have been anywhere from a half-mile to full mile across!

Southwest Egypt – This crater is one of the most recent discoveries by scientists using new tools like Google Earth. Found using satellite images in 2008, this small crater in the deserts of southwestern Egypt is only 45 meters wide and perhaps a few thousand years old. It makes you wonder if the Egyptians knew anything about it!

Be sure to check out Part 1 in this series touring Earth’s impact craters.

Locations: Australia, Chad, Egypt, Ghana, Quebec, Saskatchewan / Categories: Deserts, Natural Landmarks

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Fortunately the girl, who must have been slightly taken aback when the world’s media¹ turned up at her door asking if she was dead, was in fact perfectly all right.

A fact that any of the reporters could have been assured of if they’d moved down the street one step, from where you can see the girl is clearly playing with a friend.

Perhaps this will spark a new trend however, as presented with the Google car, some less playful people continue to get up to their old tricks…

As Google’s cars have covered even more ground around the world, there have been some interesting things to learn about the human condition. For example, apparently some girls are rather adept at something the world’s men thought they had all to themselves.

Although it does appear that not all women have mastered the art of peeing standing up quite yet.

Not to be outdone, men have gone one step further and LEARNED TO FLY. Yes ladies, you heard us right. (Although we can only do it momentarily, and it helps to be over a deep bit of water).

We hope that wider knowledge of Street View provokes more interesting responses from people when they see the car – there was another media frenzy recently when someone was spotted multiple times on the streets of Aberdeen, wearing a horse’s head. Suspiciously the images have all been removed now, so instead here’s a real horse, wandering through traffic on the way to the local Tesco.

Of course, if we all started lying down in the street, or donning interesting masks at the first sign of an approaching camera then, in an attempt to keep the controversy alive, the international press will have to start making up stories about politician’s homes being removed from Google’s services.

Sorry, I forgot, we debunked that particular story the week before last.

So have you been captured on Street View?² What did you do? And if you haven’t yet, what do you plan to do to gain international notoriety when your time finally comes?

Locations: England, Italy, Netherlands, Saskatchewan, Spain / Categories: Street Views

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Travelling again from east to west, we begin in Winnipeg, location of the magnificent Fort Garry Hotel.

Constructed in 1913¹ in the now familiar Chateau style, it was the tallest building in the city at the time. The hotel was named after the nearby Upper Fort Garry, which was a prominent trading post in the 1800s.

The hotel was, for a while, totally self-sufficient – with heat, food, water and laundry all being taken care of on-site. There was even a working printing press, which was lifted into place before a room was constructed around it (it’s still there but currently unused). Unlike the majority of railway hotels which are today owned by Fairmont, the Fort Garry is independently operated.

Another non-Fairmont hotel is in Saskatoon, The Bessborough.

Named after the then-Governor General, the Bess was built in 1932 but the great depression meant it didn’t receive its first guest until 3 years later. This hotel is noted for its extensive private gardens which stretch down towards the South Saskatchewan River.

Following the route of The Canadian to the west, we get to Edmonton and the Hotel Macdonald, which brings us back into the Fairmont properties.

Named for Canada’s first prime minister, The Mac was constructed in 1915 in the Chateau style, though the use of Indiana limestone gives it a different appearance to many of the other hotels. This hotel was in poor condition and closed for a while in the 1980s. Heritage designation from the city saved it from demolition, and it reopened in 1991 after a major renovation.

Finally, we go beyond the reach of the railway, to Victoria and the unmistakable ivy-covered walls of The Empress, which opened in 1908 to serve passengers from Canadian Pacific’s steamships.

Perhaps most famous for its afternoon teas, The Empress has a storied history of Royal and celebrity visitors. Similar to The Mac, a period of decline almost saw its destruction, but local sentiment was strong enough to save the building. That same civic pride forced Fairmont to abandon plans to alter the iconic sign on the hotel’s exterior.

There are many more railway hotels across Canada, but this concludes our look at the majority of the grandest and most historic properties.

Locations: Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan / Categories: Buildings, Street Views

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Thanks: Saskboy

Locations: Saskatchewan / Categories: Other Vehicles

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