The Bell Barn’s Virtual Archives
Take a trip through time with our collection of historical documents.
Our team has curated an extensive look back at the history contributing to the Bell Farm and the Qu’Appelle Valley Farming Company. But, there is always more to learn and discover. We are fascinated by what we have found and are excited to be able to bring history into the virtual world. Learn more about the late 1800s and uncover the stories that connect to the historic Bell Barn.
Explore the Historical Documents
Here, you can explore the multitude of sources we have used to piece together the history of the Qu’Appelle Valley Farming Company, the Bell Farm Barn, Major William Bell and the surrounding community. Stories continue to be chronicled from those who came West to support the vision of the farm and worked towards a new life in a new community. This offers an opportunity to understand and gain an appreciation for the impact this enterprise has made on agriculture today.
Discover historical documents, letters, reports, maps and photographs from the 1800s. These findings relate to any and all aspects of the Bell Barn’s rich history including topics like Major Bell's family, colleagues, business associates, sporting associates, employees, the Bell Farm and Western Canadian agriculture, as well as various other intriguing ventures involving the Major. History is a web of interconnected actions and decisions and we hope to provide as much information as we can to help share the wonderful history represented in the Bell Barn.
New Discoveries
New information relating to the Farm's operation and the people involved with it between 1882 and 1896 continues to come to light. With the reconstruction of the Bell Barn completed, changing the interpretive panels to accommodate any new information is not practical, but posting the results of our discoveries on this website is. We look forward to sharing any new discoveries with the community in our archive as often as possible.
If you’ve found any documents or pieces of information that can help add to the history of the Bell Farm and Major Bell, we invite you to share them with us.