Georgetown is a

ghost town Ghost Town(s) or Ghosttown may refer to: * Ghost town, a town that has been abandoned Film and television * ''Ghost Town'' (1936 film), an American Western film by Harry L. Fraser * ''Ghost Town'' (1956 film), an American Western film by All ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

, Canada at the foot of

Mount Rundle Mount Rundle is a mountain in Canada's Banff National Park overlooking the towns of Banff and Canmore, Alberta. The Cree name was ''Waskahigan Watchi'' or house mountain. In 1858 John Palliser renamed the mountain after Reverend Robert Rundle ...

, near Banff.

History

In 1901, the town of Anthracite's coal mining was falling into decline. Floods and further bad luck had plagued the mining operations since the Canadian Anthracite Coal Company closed its mine there in 1890. The Georgetown Coal Company chose to try again in the area around Banff, and opened a new coal mining seam at the foot of

. By 1912, the

Bow Valley Bow Valley is a valley located along the upper Bow River in Alberta, Canada. The name "Bow" refers to the reeds that grew along its banks and which were used by the local First Nations people to make bows; the Blackfoot language name for th ...

's newest coal mining community had begun operations. Conditions at Georgetown were considered good in comparison with other coal-mining communities such as Anthracite. The local company store stocked all necessities, and anything not in stock could be ordered. However, the company had a monopoly over trade in the town: all miners were forced to purchase their groceries from the

company store A company, abbreviated as co., is a legal entity representing an association of people, whether natural, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common purpose and unite to achieve specific, declared g ...

. Running water and electricity were provided in homes, but indoor toilets, considered to be luxuries, were not. Wages were still very low, at only $3 a day for miners. However, when the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

began in 1914, the Georgetown Coal Company's finances began to fall into disarray. Three years after the first mine workers moved in, the Georgetown mine closed. Before closing, the town was fully functional, serving as the home of approximately 200 people, as well as cottages, a community hall and a post office. When the mine closed, most miners moved to nearby Canmore,

Crowsnest Pass Crowsnest Pass (sometimes referred to as Crow's Nest Pass, french: link=no, col du Nid-de-Corbeau) is a low mountain pass across the Continental Divide of the Canadian Rockies on the Alberta– British Columbia border. Geography The pass is ...

Drumheller Drumheller is a town on the Red Deer River in the badlands of east-central Alberta, Canada. It is northeast of Calgary and south of Stettler. The Drumheller portion of the Red Deer River valley, often referred to as Dinosaur Valley, has a ...

. Today, the foundations of some of the old town's buildings can still be found. It is possible to visit the site during summer.

References

{{coord missing, Alberta 1912 establishments in Alberta Banff National Park Ghost towns in Alberta Improvement District No. 9 Populated places established in 1912