For the week of October 16, 2023.
On October 17, 2001, the Government of Canada recognized the Nordegg Mine in Clearwater County, Alberta, as a national historic site. Operated from 1911 to 1955 by Brazeau Collieries, Nordegg is one of the best-surviving examples of the significant expansion of coal mining that occurred in northern bituminous fields following the construction of two transcontinental railways along the northern Yellowhead Pass.
Alberta has the largest reserves of coal in Canada. In the late 19th century, the completion of two transcontinental railways—the Canadian Pacific and the Canadian Northern— increased the demand for coal as fuel and facilitated the development of coalfields around Edmonton and in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. Coal extraction quickly increased from 74,000 tonnes in 1887 to just over seven million by the 1920s.
Hoping to capitalize on the increased demand for coal, Martin Nordegg and Brazeau Collieries invested in a mine in Clearwater County, which is part of the traditional territories of Blackfoot (Niitsitapiksi) Nation, Ktunaxa Nation, and O’Chiese Nation, and within the current Treaty 6 area and the Métis Homeland. The fur trade first brought Europeans to the area in the late 18th century, leading to the creation of the Rocky Mountain House, a major trading post. The trade also brought Mohawk trappers and canoe men to the area, who established a community along the Eastern Sloppes. The Rocky Mountain House trading post was abandoned by 1875. Thereafter, the lands were mainly used by First Nations and Métis until the establishment of the Nordegg Mine.
When it opened in 1911, the Nordegg Mine produced the high-quality coal that burned with a high heat, which was needed to fuel the steam engines of the Canadian Northern Railway. However, as the mine extended farther into the seam, the coal became more friable. This was a problem for locomotives with automatic stokers, as too much unburned coal escaped through the smokestacks. To refine its coal and make it more marketable, in 1936 Nordegg purchased a briquette plant. In 1948, it invested in mechanized wet and dry washeries and thermal dryers, which replaced the manual cleaning methods.
Coal mining was very dangerous. More than a thousand miners lost their lives in Alberta mines between 1905 and 1945. At Nordegg, an explosion in 1941 resulted in the deaths of 29 miners. Shared experiences of danger and tragedy helped unite the labour community in Alberta’s coalfields. Between 1900 and the decline of the Albertan coal industry in the 1950s, coal miners accounted for more than 60 percent of all strike activity in Alberta.
Brazeau Collieries closed Nordegg in 1955, citing high transportation costs and declining markets. By the time operations ceased, the Nordegg Mine had produced almost 9.3 million tonnes of coal. In 1985 the Nordegg Historical Society was formed to preserve the mine and present its history to the public. Today, the mine is only open for guided tours.
The Nordegg Mine was designated as a national historic site in 2001. The Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada (HSMBC) advises the Government of Canada on the commemoration of national historic sites, which can include a wide range of historic places such as gardens, complexes of buildings, and cultural landscapes.
The National Program of Historical Commemoration relies on the participation of Canadians in the identification of places, events and persons of national historic significance. Any member of the public can nominate a topic for consideration by the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada. Learn how to participate in this process.