Coleman is a community in the

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within the

Municipality of Crowsnest Pass The Municipality of Crowsnest Pass is a specialized municipality in southwest Alberta, Canada. Within the Rocky Mountains adjacent to the eponymous Crowsnest Pass, the municipality formed as a result of the 1979 amalgamation of five municipalit ...

in southwest Alberta, Canada. It was formerly incorporated as a town prior to 1979 when it amalgamated with four other municipalities to form Crowsnest Pass. Coleman is located in Census Division No. 15 and in the riding of Macleod. It is served by Highway 3 (

Crowsnest Highway The Crowsnest Highway is an east-west highway in British Columbia and Alberta, Canada. It stretches across the southern portions of both provinces, from Hope, British Columbia to Medicine Hat, Alberta, providing the shortest highway connection b ...

) and the Canadian Pacific Railway.

History

In 1903, a new townsite was laid out a few kilometres west of Blairmore, to service a new coal mine operated by the International Coal and Coke Company. Initial names of Paulson's Camp or McGillivray Hill were rejected by the post office, settling on Coleman (after the mother's maiden name of the president and mine owner A. C. Flumerfelt's wife, Ada, and the middle name of his youngest daughter, Norma Coleman Flumerfelt). Coleman was incorporated as a village on January 11, 1904. It then incorporated as a town on September 10, 1910. A feature of Coleman was the mine's 100 (later 216) coke ovens located at it outskirts, which operated from 1906 to 1952. The town grew rapidly, surpassing its neighbour Blairmore as the largest in the region. Coleman had an opera house from 1908 until it burned down in 1948. Coleman persevered through strikes (1911 and 1932), floods (1923 and 1942), and fires (1948). As the coal mines in the region gradually closed, Coleman's commercial importance waned in favour of Blairmore. On November 3, 1978, the

Government of Alberta The government of Alberta (french: gouvernement de l'Alberta) is the body responsible for the administration of the Canadian province of Alberta. As a constitutional monarchy, the Crown—represented in the province by the lieutenant governor—i ...

passed the ''Crowsnest Pass Municipal Unification Act'', which led to the formal

amalgamation Amalgamation is the process of combining or uniting multiple entities into one form. Amalgamation, amalgam, and other derivatives may refer to: Mathematics and science * Amalgam (chemistry), the combination of mercury with another metal ** Pan am ...

of the Town of Coleman with the Village of Bellevue, the Town of Blairmore, the Village of Frank, and Improvement District (ID) No. 5 on January 1, 1979. Coleman's coal mining heritage is evident in its several historic buildings, a regional museum, the ruins of its coal plant and coke ovens, several nearby abandoned mines, and the "biggest

piggy bank Piggy bank (sometimes penny bank or money box) is the traditional name of a coin container normally used by children. The piggy bank is known to collectors as a "still bank" as opposed to the "mechanical banks" popular in the early 20th centur ...

in the world" made from a gauge air driven thermos bottle mine locomotive. Much of the downtown section now forms the Coleman National Historic Site.

Geography

Climate

Coleman has a subarctic climate ( Dfc) with mild to warm summers and cold, snowy winters.

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population, the urban population centre of Coleman, as delineated by Statistics Canada, recorded a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021. As a population centre in the 2016 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Coleman recorded a population of 1,475 living in 696 of its 891 total private dwellings, an change from its 2011 population of 1,366. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2016.

Notable people

Joe Kryczka Joe or JOE may refer to: Arts Film and television * ''Joe'' (1970 film), starring Peter Boyle * ''Joe'' (2013 film), starring Nicolas Cage * ''Joe'' (TV series), a British TV series airing from 1966 to 1971 * ''Joe'', a 2002 Canadian animated ...

, Justice of the

Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta The Court of King's Bench of Alberta (abbreviated in citations as ABKB or Alta. K.B.) is the superior court of the Canadian province of Alberta. Until 2022, it was named Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta. The Court of Queen's Bench in Calgary ...

, president of the

Canadian Amateur Hockey Association The Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA; french: Association canadienne de hockey amateur) was the national governing body of amateur ice hockey in Canada from 1914 until 1994, when it merged with Hockey Canada. Its jurisdiction included ...

References