Nordegg: A German
Entrepreneur's Bold Dream and Heartbreak-page 4
your browser does not support javascript! The town prospered in the 20s and struggled through the
30s just like any other mining community during the depression.
The population fluctuated from 1,000 to 3,000 citizens depending
on the demand for coal. There were strikes and layoffs but always,
it seemed, there were strong rebounds.
In spite of Nordegg's remote location in Big West Country, the
community's social fabric thrived. Sports were the vital thread
that connected the community. A sports complex was built which
included a hockey and skating arena, tennis courts and a
four-sheet curling rink. Hockey especially, was popular, with
teams and fans often traveling 100 kilometres east to Rocky
Mountain House for games. But it was the Annual Sports Days that
threaded the community together, uniting miners, families and
natives from the nearby Bighorn Reserve.
Life was simple and hearty for Nordegg residents. But it was
always a coal mining community at its core: hard work, sweat and
tears. This meant inevitable tragedies. Like any other coal mine,
Nordegg would see fatalities. However, few incidents could have
prepared them for October 31, 1941, when a gas explosion claimed
the lives of 29 miners.
It was one of the worst disasters in Canadian mining history.
Brazeau Collieries was taken to trial and found criminally
responsible for the disaster. The court fined the company $5,000.
The mines were shut down for six weeks. When they reopened, the
company introduced the province's first pneumatic pick system for
miners, retiring the old and dangerous shot-firing method of
breaking up coal. The tragedy shattered the community but not its
enduring coal mining spirit. By the following year, with the
demands of World War II at their peak, Brazeau Collieries
was again one of the top producing coal mines in Alberta.
After the war, the demand for coal was still high and company
officials were looking at opening up undeveloped coal fields. In
1947, a core drilling program began at Brazeau's land on Mount
Allan. The Kananaskis Coal fields were open for business and the
Village of Kovach, or Ribbon Creek as it became known to miners,
came to life. A strip mine opened briefly in 1947 followed by an
underground operation the next year.
On June 14, 1950, hundreds of Nordegg miners lost their jobs when
an industrial fire demolished the tipple, coal preparation areas
and the briquetting plants. Company officials decided to rebuild
but the mine was shut down for 19 months. By the time the new
plant opened in December 1951, many miners and families had left
Nordegg to find other work. Forty men were sent from Nordegg to Mount
Allan.
The fire had served warning that it was a new era at the Nordegg
operation, and for the entire coal mining industry. The railways
were warning coal companies of the pending locomotive fuel switch,
from coal to diesel. Brazeau officials, however, were confident
that strong domestic markets could balance losses from the
railways.
But Brazeau was in debt from the 1950 fire. Money was borrowed
from the province to beef up its Kananaskis operation and
restructure the Nordegg plant. By early 1952, transportation costs
ended all mining on Mount Allan. And worse still was the mild
winter in 1952. Orders for coal had taken a nose dive. The end was
near, and Nordeggers felt it coming. Then in January 1955 came the
final blow. A general notice was posted. The mine was closed.
Heritage Community Foundation Presents
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