History
Jack Routledge homesteaded this quarter. Jack and his brother, Arthur, moved to the area in 1905. Both men filed blind, meaning that they filed for their land without seeing it. Arthur received NW 32-44-10 W4 while Jack received SW 32-44-10 W4. Click here to learn more about Arthur’s property. Jack’s quarter was not suitable for farming and so he had to go back to Wetaskiwin to refile. Few homesteaders at the time needed to travel back to Wetaskiwin and so Jack had to walk. He walked all the way to Wetaskiwin carrying a ploughshare (a plough blade) which was not the right size for his plough. Luckily, he was able to get a ride back to Lougheed with new homesteaders going the same way. While in Wetaskiwin, Jack refiled for the quarter cater-corned to Arthur’s, the SE 06-45-10 W4, which is the property this barn sits on.
The barn on this property is one of the smallest barns in this database. John Routledge remembers that it was built by Mr. Gascoyne through the Sedgewick CO-OP lumber yard in the late 1960s. Gascoyne built the frame and the roof of the barn. To save money, the Routledges built the stalls and poured the cement. John Routledge’s father, William, used the barn for his mixed livestock farm. Up until about five years ago, John used the barn for his beef cattle. Now the barn stores square bales and lumber.
Routledge, John and Peggy. Personal communication. 20 Jul. 2016.
This frame shows the southern face of the barn.
The southern face of the barn and the western half of the roof are visible in this frame.
The western half of the barn’s roof.
A close up of the barn’s cupola. The single cupola has two vents. One vent is for the loft and the other vent is for the ground floor.
This frame shows the northern face and eastern half of the barn.
This frame shows the southern face of the barn and the eastern half of the barn’s roof.
Close-up of the eastern half of the barn.
The door in this frame is the door on the east side of the barn. The northern half of the barn is an open penned area.
There is a door on the north face of the barn that enters into the northern penned area inside the barn.
This frame shows the western half of the northern penned area.
The well inside the barn used to be operational and very very helpful.
This frame is of the staircase that goes up into the barn’s loft. It is located on the west side of the barn.
The southern half of the barn is used for square bale storage.
This frame shows the south-eastern corner of the barn.
This frame is of the northern face of the barn inside the loft.
This frame is of the southern face of the barn taken while inside the loft.
The arched roof shape is created by the glued laminated timbers.
Location
52.846086, -111.431450 SE 06-45-10 W4.
Characteristics
Barn Condition: Good
Construction Date: Late 1960s
Features: One wooden cupola and three lightning rods
Roof Shape: Arched
Paint: Red with white trim
Decorations: No names or dates
Roof Covering: Asphalt shingles
Siding: Wooden shiplap
Foundation: Cement block
Additional History on the Property
Please click on the images and view them in a new tab to zoom in.
Routledge, D.J., Routledge, W.A. “The Routledge Brothers ‘Jack’ and Arthur”. Verdant Valleys In and Around Lougheed. 1st ed. Lougheed: Lougheed Women’s Institute, 1972. Print.
For information on Arthur Routledge’s property please click here.
Heritage Barns of Flagstaff 
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