Fort San

A storied tuberculosis sanatorium sits abandoned and neglected within a lush ravine near a picturesque lake. Though beautiful from the outside, its inside witnessed the horrors of the TB outbreaks that swept through the country during the 20th century. Perhaps due to this dark history, it’s believed many who came here to die stayed around; the site is said to be one of the most haunted places in Canada. 

Fort San was in operation from 1917 to 1971. In its heyday, the medical campus was the province’s leading TB treatment center, accommodating more than 350 patients at any given time. Though it was a self-sufficient village that produced its own power and agricultural goods, it was a lonely, sad spot; one where patients suffered for years in isolation.

To help ease their suffering, World War I veterans created a library on the site, where patients could read for leisure and education. Fort San eventually even launched its own journal, which contained various literary musings and poems.

As the disease loosened its grip on the nation, Fort San was transformed and adapted to serve other purposes. It hosted the Saskatchewan Summer School of the Arts from 1967 to 1991, and later became a resort village that held the Echo Valley Conference Centre until 2004. Today the site is deserted, though said by many to host its fair share of supernatural beings. The old hospital was demolished in 2017.