Old general store of Bents, Saskatchewan

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Saskatchewan's spookier side

If you're greeted by a friendly face and a warm 'Welcome to Bents' as you stroll up to this old general store, you might be having a paranormal experience: It's been 50 years since a living soul dwelt in this Saskatchewan ghost town.

Built along one of the last spurs of track laid during central Canada's early-20th-century railroad boom, Bents didn't attract many residents before it quickly declined in the 1920s, when droughts stymied the region's wheat crop. By the '60s even the last hangers-on were gone, leaving only the shells of the store, grain elevator, and a few other assorted buildings. Plus of course any spirits who, nostalgic for the outpost's short-lived heyday, might still call it a favourite haunt.