The Blackfoot name for this locality refers to the deposit of red ochre found nearby which the natives used for religious paint. "Estay-sukta" translates as "where we get paint." (Dempsey). The post office was opened here in 1912. The Beaver Coal Mines were opened in 1905, and it is from these mines that the town got its name. In 1909 the Western Coal and Coke Company took an active interest in the development of the local coal deposits and sent a crew of twenty-five men to survey and develop it. The site grew, as many coal towns did at the time, but eventually met the fate of dozens like it after the 1930s. The last mine closed in 1971, but Beaver Mines was considered a ghost town long before that.

Approximately 18 km west south-west of Pincher Creek.