The last mine in Edmonton’s river valley closes. Source: Provincial Archives of Alberta, gr1989.0516.1088#1 Large-scale surface mining begins in Alberta near Lake Wabamun to fuel a large thermal electric power plant.Ī heavy-duty truck hauling coal at the Wabamun surface mining operation near the TransAlta Power Plant demonstrates the advanced mechanization propelling Alberta’s modernizing coal industry in the 1960s. During the decade after the 1947 discovery, many mines close, and most coal towns decline significantly. On February 22, 1947, an issue of The Western Examiner proclaims the discovery of the Imperial Leduc No.1 oil well as the birth of a new Alberta oil field. The discovery of a major oil deposit at Leduc, Alberta, foreshadows a decline in the province’s coal production. 1945 increased demand for steam coal during the war years led to greater production within the industry. The Second World War begins to revive Alberta’s economy and coal industry, which had declined during the Great Depression.Ī view of the booming International Coal and Coke Company Ltd. Source: Provincial Archives of Alberta, A6081 Newcastle Mine in the Drumheller mining district after ten years of expansion, 1921 Drumheller is one of thirty-two districts created to facilitate keeping track of the booming industry’s developments, inspections and infrastructure requirements. The province is divided into thirty-two coal mining districts as the industry expands broadly. Miners are drawn to the OBU because of the deepening economic crisis. Strikers from the One Big Union (OBU) at Drumheller, Alberta, in 1919 the union forms after labour workers broke away from the United Mine Workers Association union. Cost of living rises by 65% since onset of World War I in 1914, contributing to coal industry labour unrest and heightened union activity. Source: Image courtesy of Peel’s Prairie Provinces, a digital initiative of the University of Alberta Libraries, Ar00113 The initial fatalities estimate reported in the Edmonton Capital newspaper on June 19, 1914, was later revised. Alberta’s deadliest coal mine disaster occurs at Hillcrest, Alberta.Īn initial gas explosion triggers a larger coal dust explosion, killing 189 miners. Source: Provincial Archives of Alberta, A6152 Horses pull coal-filled wooden mine cars underground at Newcastle Mine in 1914, three years after Newcastle opened in Drumheller. First large commercial mine in Drumheller starts production. Source: Provincial Archives of Alberta, CL26 Mountain Park appears to have been the first major community to grow, reaching a population of about 330 by the early 1920s. 
1920-1923 small-scale mining had begun in the Coal Branch about 1909, but after 1910 the arrival of the railway opened up the region to large-scale mining. Mountain Park Station, Mountain Park, Alberta, ca. Coal Branch mines open southwest of Edson, Alberta.Source: Image courtesy of Peel’s Prairie Provinces, a digital initiative of the University of Alberta Libraries, PC003325 1912, eleven years after production started the region yields a high volume of industrial steam coal. Coal mining begins in the Crowsnest Pass region of Alberta.Ī view of International Coal and Coke Company at Coleman in the Crowsnest Pass, ca.Galt also establishes the North Western Coal and Navigation Company in the same year to supply coal to the Canadian Pacific Railway. 1 in 1885 near present-day Lethbridge Sir Alexander Galt establishes the mine to exploit the region’s abundant coal deposits. The first large-scale commercial mine begins production in Alberta.Nicholas Sheran’s mine, 1881 Source: Glenbow Archives, NA-1948-2 The first commercial coal mine begins operation near present-day Lethbridge, Alberta.
Source: Hudson’s Bay Company Archives, Archives of Manitoba, E.3-2 fo.30 In the February 12, 1793, entry of “Journal of a Journey over Land from Buckingham House to the Rocky Mountains in 1792 & 3 by Peter Fidler,” Fidler describes his coal discovery. The presence of coal in Alberta is first recorded by a European explorer.The specimens have all suffered damage from ploughing but are still remarkable and accurate anatomical reproductions of bison. Most of the effigies depict bison, usually cows, with tongues out, indicating either running or being in labour. Early indigenous people transform coal found in seams in foothills and mountain regions into effigies.
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