As time continues on, becoming disconnected from the times of past is inevitable, but the Swift Current Museum has launched a modern photo archive keeping images and stories from the past alive.

The Facebook page Vintage Swift Current is owned by the Swift Current Museum and administered by Stephanie Kaduck, education and public programs coordinator. The page features photos of Swift Current, some of which are over 100 years old.

She said that having seen similar, less formal pages being set up for other towns, the museum wanted to ensure that they could set up a more informative page.

"With a little bit of sniffing around we found out that they weren't run by the cities themselves, they were run by someone who didn't live there, and we didn't want that to happen to us because we know more about the photographs then any sort of random person from [far] away would know. We decided to be proactive and set up a vintage Swift Current page."

The focus of the photos on the page range from town hall in 1912, damage done by a storm to Swift Current's Civic Centre in 1975, and many other pieces of local history.

k is connecting people who had similar experiences or might have not been in contact with the individual in recent years, as Kaduck explains.

"Somebody will be talking about something and somebody will say 'wait a minute, are you so and so?' 'well yes I am!' and they'll start talking back and forth, or 'are you related to this person?' 'oh yes, that's my aunt.' It's really quite charming."

She said that while looking to collect stories on images, they usually get more engagement with more recent pictures rather than the older ones, due to fewer people from that time period being able to provide information on it.

"There are some people who really like to see the oldest pictures, and the oldest pictures are amazing, but there's nobody here who remembers them, so our reach is smaller on those pictures because people aren't engaging with them, but they're still important."

Kaduck said that she also makes trips to care facilities with photos from the museum's archives to talk with the elderly about memories they might have about the depiction.

Speaking on what she thought the most interesting post on their page was, Kaduck said that it was also the photo which garnered the most attention for the page. That photo happened to be of Swift Current's bus station which has since closed down.

"I expected that a few people would start talking about how sad it is was that we didn't have busses, and there were a few comments like that, but most of them were about the restaurant, and the food, and the people who worked there, and the funny things that they did, and the fact that [to use] the washrooms there you had to pay."

The post has reached 11,000 people according to Kaduck.

Not being from Swift Current originally, she said that being able to get in-depth stories and details about places interested her.

"As we get closer to the present there's more information that was generally shared across the country and around the world, but there are still things that are unique to Swift Current."

Some examples that the museum employee referenced was the community's proximity to the Battleford Trail, immigration, and also the town's downtown which was constructed to draw those coming into town from the railway past local businesses.

Kaduck said that being able to access history provides insight into how Swift Current was shaped and what influenced it.

"You go to the old cemetery, you understand why vaccinations are important because a good third of that cemetery is children, so everything that can impact your life today has some kind of relevant story in the past."

Looking ahead to the future of photo preservation Kaduck said that the rise of social media would play a large part in the preservation of photos depicting how Swift Current was in the current day and age.

"People going around and taking pictures, and capturing businesses before they close, and capturing the activities in malls, and at Market Square, and local celebrations. All of that stuff is important because 100 years from now, people are going to be talking about it."

Kaduck said if anyone with historic photos of Swift Current wishes to submit photos to be posted on the page they can message the Vintage Swift Current Facebook page.