The Atlas Coal Mine National Historic Site is an inactive

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when ...

mine in

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 that operated from 1936 to 1979. Located in East Coulee near

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 ...

, it is considered to be Canada's most complete historic coal mine and is home to the country's last standing wooden

coal tipple Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when dea ...

, and the largest still standing in North America. It was designated an Alberta Provincial Historic Resource in 1989 and a

National Historic Site of Canada National Historic Sites of Canada (french: Lieux historiques nationaux du Canada) are places that have been designated by the federal Minister of the Environment on the advice of the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada (HSMBC), as being ...

in 2002.

History

The sub-bituminous coal from the Drumheller mining district was mainly used for home heating, cooking and electrical generation. It was also used to power the steam locomotives of the Canadian National and Canadian Pacific Railways on the prairies. The flat-lying seams were easier to mine than those found in more mountainous areas, with lower levels of

methane Methane ( , ) is a chemical compound with the chemical formula (one carbon atom bonded to four hydrogen atoms). It is a group-14 hydride, the simplest alkane, and the main constituent of natural gas. The relative abundance of methane on Ea ...

gas. The coal-mining era lasted from 1911 to 1984, when the Atlas No. 3 and 4 mines closed. The Atlas No. 3 Mine structures are preserved and form the basis of the National Historic Site, administered by the Atlas Mine Historical Society. The mine features the last wooden coal tipple in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. Built in 1937, the tipple is a coal loading and sorting machine. At over 7 storeys tall the tipple now serves as a reminder of the rich mining history of the

Valley. Old mining equipment, including a working pre-1936 battery powered locomotive and several buildings including the wash house, supply house, lamp house, and mine office still stand at the site. The site preserves the stories and artifacts of the men who once mined the black. The Atlas is the last of 139 mines that once ruled the valley. Thirteen people died during the mine's operation. Four died on one day, June 24, 1941 when a gas explosion killed three and a fourth gave his life in a vain attempt to rescue them.Litschel, King Coal, p. 38

Tourism

The facilities are open to visitors from May to Thanksgiving weekend. Guided tours take visitors into the past with a ride on the locomotive (dubbed ''Linda'') and a walk up the tipple. Since 2009, the Atlas has conducted tours of the 210 foot underground conveyor tunnel and the recently restored Blacksmith Shop.

References

External links

Atlas Coal Mine National Historic SiteAtlas Coal MineAtlas Coal Mine's YouTube Channel
{{Alberta parks Coal mines in Canada Mines in Alberta Underground mines in Canada Museums in Alberta Mining museums in Canada National Historic Sites in Alberta Provincial Historic Resources of Alberta Former mines in Canada