Coal mining history comes alive in Canmore museums and cultural sites
by Rob Alexander
Locally-born and raised journalist Rob Alexander continues his two-part series about cultural sites in the area by focusing on Canmore its history that has contributed to the vibrant Bow Valley of today.
The Bow Valley’s culture and history is a complex tapestry stretching back nearly 12,000 years to its earliest known sites of human habitation. Since then, the tapestry has grown as at least five different groups of Native people (Kootenay, Sarcee, Peigan, Stoney and Blackfoot) travelled through the area, followed by a myriad of explorers, missionaries, the first tourists, surveyors and railway builders, prospectors and adventurers. Every group left its own indelible mark on the Bow Valley region, adding to this complex and exciting tapestry, which can be explored in our many museums and cultural sites.
When coal was first discovered in the valley in 1880s following construction of the railway, Canmore became the nerve centre for coal mining in the Bow Valley. Canmore’s coal mine was the largest and longest lived in the valley and while it closed in 1979, much of Canmore’s identity today is still rooted in its coal-mining past. On the south side of the Bow River, known as Mineside, exposed coal seams are a reminder of this community’s heritage. Canmore is also known for its vibrant and growing arts community.
The 111-year-old North West Mounted Police Barracks is one of Canmore’s oldest buildings, and has been recognized as a Provincial Historic Site. Visitors are welcome to tour the building, which is located in a picturesque park at the entrance to downtown Canmore.
Canmore Centennial Museum and Geoscience Centre
Nowhere else in Canmore does the history of the town come more alive than at the Canmore Centennial Museum and Geoscience Centre. This month, the museum will re-open in a new, modern space in Canmore’s Civic Centre, immediately across the street from its old space. The Canmore museum is a volunteer driven organization that has traditionally offered a glimpse into the coal mining history of Canmore and the Bow Valley. With the new space, the museum promises to offer a broader vision of Canmore’s art and history. The museum society also operates Canmore’s North-West Mounted Police Barracks. A number of the exhibits planned in the coming months coincide with the International Year of the Coal Miner.
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The old stone lamphouse is the only remaining building on Canmore’s mine site.
North West Mounted Police Barracks
Located on Main Street, the North-West Mounted Police Barracks is a 111-year-old log building in the heart of Canmore, next to the aptly named Policeman’s Creek. This small mud-chinked log building was built in 1893 to house two members of western Canada’s first police force. The NWMP barracks is the oldest in Western Canada still on its original site. It has also been recognized as a Provincial Historic Site. Back when Canmore was primarily a gritty mining town, the president of the Canadian Anthracite Coal Company requested a police presence to help keep in check what was deemed as a growing problem with the predominantly single miners and alcohol.
No. 1 Mine Site and the Lamphouse
In 1887 the No. 1 coal mine was opened along what is known today as Canmore Creek. An early photograph of the site shows a number of mine buildings straddling a drainage flanked by steep slopes. All that remains of these building is a few pieces of concrete supports and foundations, but sharp eyes can pick out the shaft’s mouth — now sealed — on the opposite side of the creek. A walking trail, part of Canmore’s town trail system, leads through the site. The easiest way to pick up the trail for the No. 1 mine is to park at Quarry Lake, walk across the road and pick up the trail above a tiered-waterfall. The lamphouse is a squat, gray building constructed from local rock. It is also the only remaining building on the former mine site. At the start and end of each shift, miners would stop at the lamphouse to either pick up or drop off their specially designed lamps. The lamphouse can be difficult to find and perhaps the best way to reach it is by following a gravel path that runs along the Bow River’s south bank. The lamphouse is downstream from the pedestrian bridge over the river.
Georgetown
Sitting five kilometres west of Canmore along the Bow River, Georgetown is the site of another of the Bow Valley’s failed coal mines and lost towns. Opened in 1912, the Georgetown mine closed three years later. Of the small houses, the community hall, store and bunkhouse that had been built near the mine no trace is left, however, scattered throughout the Georgetown site, which is now part of the Canmore Nordic Centre built for the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics, one can find tin cans, blackened and rotten boots, low concrete foundations and even a wood stove lying in the forest. The Georgetown Trail that follows the rail bed to the old town site can be reached from the Nordic Centre.
Useful Websites:
Canmore Museum and Geoscience Centre and North West Mounted Police Barracks: entrance by donation (www.cmags.org), open year round (NWMP barracks open weekends.
Rob Alexander was born and raised in the Bow Valley and is currently working on a historical book about the community of Exshaw, located east of Canmore.
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