MARY'S GENEALOGY TREASURES
Coalhurst,Alberta History
Taken from Our Treasured Heritage-
A History of Coalhurst and District - Pages 37-38
MARY'S GENEALOGY TREASURES
Taken from Our Treasured Heritage-
A History of Coalhurst and District - Pages 37-38
Alberta has many communites that at one time were of
They are seldom visited by the traveller to whom they may
And one of them is Coalhurst, once a mining community of 1,200
Mr. McDermott became hardware merchant at Coalhurst when
What with the big pile of cinders and the fact there is an interes
Mr. McDermott was manager of Molson's Bank at Diamond City
The Indians always said the mines at Diamond City would not
Diamond City in those days was in a peculiar position. Lethbridge
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After being at other western points with the bank, Mr. McDermott
The mine shaft had just been completed and everybody was
A hotel was built about three-quarters of a mile from the town proper
From its eight stores and hotel, Coalhurst - a name derived from
An irrigation canal runs through Coalhurst but does it no good
With gas and power, the place has much to offer. It also has
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Foundations are all that remain of the mine . . . apart from the great
The hill was purchased a while back by Calgary interests with
Then there was the fight over a getting a railway station. That
In those days, it seems, the railways preferred to build stations at
When Coalhurst asked for a station, the railway replied it had a
So when the people of Coalhurst wanted to catch a train they either
The argument was before federal boards and the railway stuck to
Odd part of the railway's attitude, however, was that in some of
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Coalhurst got its station in 1930, or five years before the
The operation ended as the result of a tragic explosion -
The dispute reached the point where the miners refused
considerable importance but which now are just names
beside the highways.
was well just be over a hill and out of sight, yet they have
interesting stories to tell.
residents that today lives with its memories but still looks to the
future because in these expanding times it is becoming something
of a suburb of Lethbridge and, anyway, it has that great pile of
cinders.
the town was in the exciting throes of being built. He still calls
it home because he has one of those fine old residences and,
anyway, he dislikes the bustle of cities.
in Coalhurst as a quiet place to live because it is but seven
miles from Lethbridge, Mr. McDermott feels the pendulum may
be swinging the other way, however slowly.
which was another thriving coal mining community about 11
miles north of Lethbridge.
continue to operate. Actually mining at Diamond City suffered
when the seam ran out. But the Indians club to their belief the
mining would not be successful because it was on the site of an
old Indian burial ground.
was within distance of the eye, but the coal was moved out to
and suplies brought in from Granum, 30 miles to the west.
There was no way of getting across the big coulee to Lethbridge.
returned to Coalhurst to open a hardware business on strength
of opening the mine.
waiting for the town to be opened. As Mr. McDermott said, "the
land was subdivided as far as you could see." Optimism was unbounded.
and it was actually in business for three years before it was moved
into town.
the mine product coupled with an early settler named Hurst - today
has but one store in operation. A reminder of yesteryear is a brick
building vacant, on which is crest of the Standard Bank of Canada.
because the town is on fringe of the irrigated area. The town is
centre of a school district and most of the activity seems to centre
around the big school.
a water line, a community enterprise. Two of the tanks of the
water system once served as vats in a brewery.
pile of cinders, now covered with weeds and such a size it looks
like a big hill.
the intention of using the waste material to make cinder blocks.
The figure of $20,000 has been mentioned as having been involved
in the deal for the cinders, and Coalhurst residents are looking
forward to seeing a factory on the site.
battle went on for nearly a quarter of century after the big trestle
was built over the valley at Lethbridge and a direct line built
to Fort Macleod. Previously the CPR made a big loop to the south.
spots where it could develop a townsite. The next station west of
Coalhurst is Kipp, which is bigger today than it has ever been,
having about three homes. The railway built a station at Kipp but
another company had the land for development.
station at Kipp and it had no intention of having stations every two
miles.
drove or walked over to Kipp which was just about two miles distant.
its guns for years before it finally built a station.
those years it was moving 1,600 tons of coal per day from the
Coalhurst mine and as a railway car in those days handled only
50 tons or so, it was quite some movement.
mining folded. By this time the mine was operated by
Lethbridge Colleries, a subsidiary of the CPR.
16 lives were lost - and a dispute which then followed
with a union.
to go underground and before they could give their decision
second thought they had no mine to go to. The company
closed the operation.
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