Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village facts for kids
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| Established | 1974 |
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| Location | Lamont County, east of Elk Island National Park, Alberta, Canada |
| Type | open-air, living history |
The Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village (Ukrainian: Село спадщини української культури, romanized: Selo spadshchyny ukrains’koi kul’tury) is a special kind of museum. It's an open-air museum where you can step back in time! People dressed in old clothes act like they live in the past. They show what life was like for Ukrainian Canadian settlers. These settlers lived in east central Alberta, Canada, between 1899 and 1930. Real buildings from nearby communities were moved here. They have been carefully fixed up to look just like they did long ago.
This museum is often called "The Village." It's very serious about being historically accurate. It uses a method called first-person interpretation. This means the actors stay in character all the time. They answer your questions as if it's the year their building shows. This helps you feel like you've truly traveled back in time! It makes history come alive in a way that's much more exciting than just reading about it.
The Village is located in Lamont County. You can find it on the Yellowhead highway, right next to Elk Island National Park.
Cool Monuments to See
You can find several interesting monuments at the Village:
- Alberta Centenary Pioneer Recognition Monument
- Cenotaph to the Ukrainian Canadian Soldier
- Joseph Olesków Monument – created by Leo Mol
- Pioneer Family Monument – also by Leo Mol
- Statue of Vasyl' Stefanyk
- Ukrainian Canadian Internment Camp
MonumentUkrainian Internment Memorial
- Chornobyl Disaster Commemorative Cross
- Stelmach House
Buildings: A Trip Through Time
The museum is split into different areas. Each area shows a different part of settler life. You can explore:
- Overview (Introduction to settler homes)
- Farmsteads (Different types of farms)
- Rural Communities (Small towns and services)
- Town sites (Bigger town areas)
Note: The names and places used for the buildings are how they were spelled back then. They might be different from how we spell them today!
Overview: First Homes in Canada
This section introduces you to the first Ukrainian immigrants. They came from areas like Galicia and Bukovina to Canada. You can see the homes of three early settler families here.
- Iwan Pylypow was one of the first people to start the big move of Ukrainians to Canada. His family was from Galicia. You can see his third house in Canada at the Village. It shows what life was like between 1923 and 1929.
- The second house belongs to Mykhailo and Vaselina Hawreliak. They were a large family from Bukovina. By the 1920s, Mykhailo Hawreliak was very successful. Their house has five bedrooms and even a special tank to collect rainwater for the kitchen! This house shows the years 1925-1928.
- The Nazar Yurko family was also from Bukovina. They were of Romanian descent. Their house shows what life was like in 1932.
- Pylypow House (Star, Alberta; Built 1906, shows 1923–1929)
- Hawreliak House (Shandro, Alberta; Built 1919, shows 1925–1928)
- Yurko House (Boian, Alberta; Built 1920, shows 1932)
Farmsteads: Life on the Farm
This area shows different farmyards. You can see how farms changed over time as settlers became more established.
- Township Survey Marker (Reconstruction from around 1892) – This marker showed the corner of a large piece of land. These lands were given to settlers under the Dominion Lands Act.
The First Immigrants' Homes
- Burdei – This is a temporary shelter. It was dug into the ground or the side of a hill. Many early Ukrainian settlers lived in these simple homes when they first arrived. This one is rebuilt to show what it looked like in 1900.
Bukovinian Settlers' Farms
- Grekul House (Toporivtsi, Alberta; Built 1915, shows 1918–1919)
- Grekul Granary (Toporivtsi, Alberta; Built 1908-1909, shows 1918–1919)
- Grekul Barn (Toporivtsi, Alberta; Built 1915, shows 1918–1919)
- Roswiyczuk Granary (North Kotzman, Alberta; Built 1914, shows 1918)
- Makowichuk Barn (South Kotzman, Alberta; Built 1912, shows 1918)
Galician Settlers' Farms
- Hlus' House (Buchach, Alberta; Built 1915–1916, shows 1918)
- Hlus' Barn (Buchach, Alberta; Built 1915, shows 1918)
- Hlus' Chicken Coop (Buchach, Alberta; Built 1915, shows 1918)
- Lakusta Barn (Amelia-Cookville, Alberta; Built 1915, shows 1918)
- Lakusta Granary (Amelia-Cookville, Alberta; Built 1912, shows 1918)
Later Immigrants' Farms
- Slemko House (South Kotzman, Alberta; Built 1912, shows 1919)
- Slemko Granary (South Kotzman, Alberta; Built 1913, shows 1919)
- Slemko Barn (South Kotzman, Alberta Built 1914, shows 1919)
- Pigsty (Rebuilt to show 1919)
Ukrainian-Canadian Farmers' Equipment
- Hewko House (Podola, Alberta; Built 1917–1924, shows 1930)
- Kitt Threshing Machine Shed (Myrnam, Alberta; Built 1922, shows 1930)
- Chernochan Machine Shed (Smoky Lake, Alberta; Built 1915, shows 1925-1928)
Rural Community: Small Town Life (1925–1930)
This area shows what small communities looked like. You can see places where people bought groceries, went to school, and gathered.
- Roadside Shrine (Rebuilt to show 1919)
- Luzan Grocery (Luzan, Alberta; Built 1927, shows 1929)
- Luzan Post Office (Luzan, Alberta; Built 1926, shows 1929)
- Kiew Hall – a community hall (Kiew, Alberta; Built 1924, shows 1930)
- St. Nicholas Russo-Greek Orthodox Church (Kiew, Alberta; Built 1908, shows 1925–1928)
- Kolody Sawmill (Vilna, Alberta; Made 1927, shows 1929)
- Russia School (Musidora, Alberta; Built 1910, shows 1926–1929)
- Russia School Barn (Musidora, Alberta; Built 1926, shows 1926–1929)
- South River Teacher’s Shack (South River, Alberta; Built 1921, shows 1927)
- St. Nicholas Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (Buchach, Alberta; Built 1912, shows 1930)
Town Site: A Bustling Center (1925–1930)
This section shows a bigger town area. You can see different businesses and important buildings.
- St. Vladimir's Ukrainian Greek Orthodox Church (Vegreville, Alberta; Built 1934, shows 1934–1935)
- Wostok Hardware Store (Wostok, Alberta; Built 1937–1938, shows 1939)
- Hilliard Pool Hall (Hilliard, Alberta; Built 1925, shows 1930)
- Hilliard Pool Hall Stable & Garage (Hilliard, Alberta; Built 1925, shows 1930)
- Market Square
- Radway Post Office, Telephone Exchange, and Municipal District Office (Radway, Alberta; Built 1920, shows 1929)
- Radway Postmaster’s Garage (Radway, Alberta; Built 1927, shows 1929)
- Radway Livery Barn (Radway, Alberta; Built 1927, shows 1929)
- Pawlenchuk Lot Barn (Smoky Lake, Alberta; Built 1930, shows 1932)
- United Merchants of Alberta General Store (Smoky Lake, Alberta; Built 1932, shows 1932)
- Andrew Alberta Provincial Police Post (Andrew, Alberta; Built 1913, shows 1925–1928)
- Bellis Home Grain Co. Elevator (Bellis, Alberta; Built 1922, shows 1928)
- Bellis Canadian National Railway Station (Bellis, Alberta; Built 1923, shows 1928)
- Morecambe School (Morecambe, Alberta; Built 1929, shows 1930)
- Hilliard Hotel (Hilliard, Alberta; Built 1928, shows 1929)
- Alberta Lumber Co. Office (Lamont, Alberta; Built 1907–1910, shows 1928)
- Alberta Lumber Company Cement Shed (Lamont, Alberta; Built 1906, shows 1928)
- Alberta Lumber Company Coal Shed (Lamont, Alberta)
- Demchuk Blacksmith Shop (Myrnam, Alberta; Built 1927, shows 1929)
- Demchuk House (Myrnam, Alberta; Built 1928, shows 1929)
- Woodworking Shop (Rebuilt to show 1930)
Images for kids
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Home Grain Co. Elevator, built circa 1922, restored to 1929 appearance.
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Bust of Joseph Oleskow
More to Explore
The Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village is connected with several important groups:
You might also be interested in:
- Kalyna Country – This is a special region in Alberta. The Village is part of it!
- List of Canadian place names of Ukrainian origin – Many places where the Village's buildings came from are on this list.
- Narodny dim – These are community halls with a focus on Ukrainian culture. They were important gathering places for Ukrainian Canadians.
