Latta Family Collection, The Latta Bridge

Date: 1900's

With modern buildings in the background, this picture shows the Latta Bridge and the Latta home, which is the three-storey structure with a fire escape at the back. The address was 9131 Jasper Avenue. The apartments to the left are on the land where our family garden was.

The building was erected in 1905, and torn down in 1986. The fire escape was added about 1954, when the building was converted to apartments. The mineral rights are still owned by the family, as they are in much of Steel Heights.

An annual occurrence was the rope swings that we hung on the bridge, and were enjoyed by many of the neighborhood children, until the fire department took them down. They soon reappeared.

The bushes below the house provided berries, such as saskatoons, choke cherries, pin cherries, wild strawberries, and gooseberries. The hills provided a place to play, both summer and winter. We would glide down on anything that would slide, from skis to cardboard.