MARY'S GENEALOGY TREASURES
The village of Coalhurst played a large part in the life
The Veterinary Research Station was located on the river
My father started work at the Research Station in about 1912 as
The Research Station was located in the West Lethbridge
As time went on and we got older, I do not remember the year
I first remember Coalhurst for the mine and the huge dump with
The school was a four room school, later another four rooms were
Coalhurst was a lively place until the explosion in the mine
We had many years of driving to school by horse and buggy.
When it got too cold to drive back and forth to school, the four
It was very cold living in Coalhurst in the winter as there were
The last few years of high school, my father had a car and we
After high school, I did not see much of Coalhurst as I then
Gerwyn, the oldest of us, went to work for the Lethbridge Memorial
After two of our family finished grade eleven in Coalhurst my father
of the Lewis family. Our father, William Edgar Lewis
and mother, Catherine Lewis, had a family of six children.
Our home was the "Research Station", now known as the
"Animal Disease Research Station". It originated in the year
1904 to research a disease in animals which broke out on the
ranch of T. W. McCaugherty.
bottom about four miles from Coalhurst and ten miles directly
west of Lethbridge on the Oldman river. Our neighbours on
one side were the Dickie family, and later the Burroughs family
who ran the pumping station for Coalhurst. On the other side of
us and around the bend of the river were the Grisack family and
next to them the McCaugherty ranch.
an outside foreman, after coming from Monmouth, Wales and
homesteading at Iron Springs for a few years. He worked at
the Research for forty three years. He married my mother
who came from Llandovery, Wales, in Lethbridge in 1913 and
lived at the Research all their married life until they retired to
Lethbridge in 1955. My father passed away in 1966 and my
mother in 1973.
school district and the West Lethbridge school was about
the same distance away as Coalhurst. My father decided
when schooling time came that Coalhurst would be more
convenient. He bought a house in Coalhurst and in our
younger years we lived in Coalhurst with mother to go to
school. My father bought the house from my uncle who
moved to the United States. We would live in Coalhurst
during the week, going to the Research on weekends.
we started driving to school by horse and buggy, but we
did it every day for many years, except in the severe winter
weather when the four of us lived in the house in Coalhurst
by ourselves, so all our school memories are of our years in
Coalhurst. Coalhurst school only went to Grade eleven.
the burning coals, which to me was quite a sight. There was
one main street with business places on either side and wooden
sidewalks. The Community Hall in the centre of the street, and
the centre of activities, was the largest building. Mr. Gammon
ran a blacksmith shop at the end of the business section. The
McDonald and Bublick department stores were there, Tedesco's
Meat Market and Willis' Ice Cream Parlor and Candy Store,
where we got our ice cream and candy.
built alongside, but separate from the original school. There
were rows of company houses for the mine workers. We
lived two doors from the Catholic church. Down the street a
little farther was the United Church with the Pentecostal church
across from it. While we lived in Coalhurst, we went to the United
Church Sunday school. I remember the Locatelli flour mill and
when it burnt down, Coalhurst had irrigation ditches. There
was a skating rink there, where we went skating and a dressing
room to put on our skates, all crowded around the heater. We
had a movie at the Community Hall, usually once a week. The
equipment was all brought from Lethbridge for it. The school
held a concert every year at Christmas. It was real fun for all
the children that took part. My teacher for four years in
Elementary school was Miss Catherine Morrissey, so I
felt very lucky. We had field days at the school every year,
another fun time. Mr. Merkley, Mr. White, Jack Melling
and Sid Oliver were the high school teachers when I attended.
which killed sixteen miners and closed the mine. I remember
it well as our neighbour Mr. Eban Williams lost his life.
Coalhurst gradually died after that, people moved away
and the houses were sold and they moved to other communities.
My brother was in charge of the horse, harnessing and driving.
We had a steep coulee to climb just to leave the Research,
so we all walked up the hill and climbed into the buggy at the top.
We had to get up early in the morning, but we did enjoy some
of the trips in the good weather. We also ran into some very
inclement weather and very bad storms. Many the time my
father would meet us on horseback to make sure we were
making our way home safely.
of us lived in the Coalhurst house by ourselves. My father
would drive us to Coalhurst on Sunday night by sleigh and
a team of horses and enough groceries for the week, returning
on Friday night to take us back to the Research for the weekend.
One Sunday in the deep snow, we could not find the road up
the hill and the sleigh dumped, along with all of us, and the
groceries. That week of school we missed.
no conveniences in our house. We had a stove and a heater
and it was a steady job keeping coal on the fire to keep warm.
Our water was delivered by the barrel and it seemed we were
always chopping ice and heating it for our water for household
chores. I remember Bob McCullough delivered the water.
The fires all went out when we were at school and the house
had to be warmed up all over again. It had its advantages as
we liked taking part in the community activities and seeing more
of our friends. We did not miss the drive in the cold weather
and it was very dangerous as blizzards came up with no warning.
had it to drive now and again. That was a real luxury. During
the government departmental exams, we would ride horseback
to school or walk, as we did not all go at the same time.
went to Lethbridge for a business course. Two of our family
finished high school there and one had three years in Coalhurst
school, but by this time many more families were working at
the Research and a government car was provided for business
back and forth to Lethbridge and they finally started driving the
children to school in Lethbridge.
Works after school until World War 11 broke out, when he joined
the air force. He was sent overseas in 1942 and was shot down
over the sea shortly after going to England. The body was never
recovered.
sold the house, and as I recall, it was moved to Picture Butte. I
have since lost track of Coalhurst, being so far away all the time,
but have great memories of the school and all the friends I made there.
Return Individual Histories