Return Ghost Towns of AlbertaMARY'S GENEALOGY TREASURES
The village of Caldwell was named for the family of
David Henry and Sarah Caldwell. They came with 10
covered wagons and 50 horses from Utah, in 1898, and
settled in that area. There were 47 people in the com-
pany, all relatives. At one time Caldwell had a popula-
tion of over 300. There was a store operated by C. A.
Perry, a church, a school and a post office. The Caldwell
ward of the L.D.S. Church was organized in 1899 and ex-
isted until 1911. David Henry Caldwell was the first
bishop, his son Henry Caldwell Jr. the second, and Isaac
Allred was bishop when the ward dissolved. By 1911 the
families all moved away, many of them to the U.l.D.
Hillspring moving their houses to their new locations. A
church house, a tithing barn and a school house were
buildings left there. In 1978 the church house is still there
but it has been converted into a barn. The tithing barn
burned down and the school house was torn down. The
land was bought by Bradshaw and Jacobs in 1910 and is
now owned by Mervyn and Guy Jacobs, sons of the
original owner. There is only one house still in existence
of Dennis and Diana Jacobs.
The history of the Caldwell school No. 584 is one of a
struggle to survive. There had to be school facilities
provided for the children. Dahl Caldwell remembers the
loads of lumber that were hauled from Fort Macleod by
team, in the winter of 1899 and 1900. He remembers the
celebration next summer when the building was com-
pleted, which was used for a church and a school at first.
The desks were wide boards hinged to the wall that could
be folded out of the way on Sunday. The school house
was built a block from the church house, a typical red,
single room, country school. By 1911 the school was
closed because of too few students. In 1913 there were 5
children old enough for school in the district. In order to
get a government grant there had to be at least 6 students
enrolled so a five year old started school and this filled
that requirement. The school continued until 1921 with
never more than 12 students. Those starting in 1913 were
now through grade eight and the school wasn't qualified
to teach grade nine as that was considered the first year
of High School. In 1921 the district consolidated with
Mountain View making it possible to have a teacher for
high school. In 1927 there were enough students in the
Caldwell area to have a school again in the district, so
they withdrew from the consolidation. The first part of
the 1927-28 school year was taught in a room of the Nor-
ton home until the new school was finished. For the next
eight years the school carried on until it was finally closed
again for lack of students. In 1935-36 it became part of
the Mountain View District.
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