UPDATE: Chinook rose and fell with Service Garage

By Jonathan Koch on July 22, 2025.

Source: Forgotten Alberta
UPDATE: Chinook rose and fell with Service Garage
UPDATE: The essay, “Chinook rose and fell with Service Garage”, is now available online in its entirety at The Free Library.com.

BONUS: Two photos of Chinook dated 1956 and 1960 from the Howdy McPhail Aerial Photo archives at the University of Saskatchewan, discovered too late for publication, can be found here.

Wow.

Has it really been over three years since my last post? I’ll spare you the gory details, but I am pleased to report that much of my time not almost dying was spent compiling and drafting my newest essay for Alberta History Journal, entitled “Chinook rose and fell with Service Garage”.

This is the story of the former village of Chinook, and the heart of that lapsed locality, the now defunct and derelict Service Garage. The essay chronicles the rise of both the garage and community, and their concurrent collapse as drought and the desertion of the surrounding districts took a disastrous toll on both.

At present only subscribers to Alberta History Journal are able to read this essay. I would strongly recommend you click the link to get a subscription for future editions, or find someone who has one. Or, you could stop by your local library on the off chance they subscribe to this publication. If they don’t have a subscription, harass them relentlessly until they do.

Many thanks to Harry Sanders, Editor of Alberta History, for accepting my scribblings, and to both Harry and Scott Dumonceaux, Associate Editor, for their patience and suggestions during the editorial process.

I’d also like to thank Ellen Sangster for her efforts to chronicle the history of the Cooley family. The recollections of Ray Cooley were essential in the compilation of this piece. I’d also like to thank Gabrial Logan, David McKinstry, Jim Aitken, and Wayne Cornell for their assistance (and Amanda for her love and support).

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