Hillcrest, also known as Hillcrest Mines, is an urban community in the
Rocky Mountains
The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in great-circle distance, straight-line distance from the northernmost part of Western Can ...
within the
Municipality of Crowsnest Pass in
southwest Alberta, Canada. It was once a hamlet under the jurisdiction of Improvement District (ID) No. 5 prior to 1979 when the former ID No. 5 amalgamated with four other municipalities to form Crowsnest Pass.
History
Hillcrest was named after Charles Plummer Hill, an early coal prospector and entrepreneur who also founded
Porthill, Idaho. Hill grew up and was educated in
Seaford, Delaware before moving northwest. The Hillcrest Coal and Coke Company, incorporated on January 31, 1905, began constructing the community the same year, and the Canadian Pacific Railway soon built a spur, for transporting coal from the Hillcrest Mine, and a train station. Hillcrest soon grew to a population of about 1,000. The post office opened in 1907 with Mr. Hill as the postmaster.
Although the mine was successful, and considered one of the safest in the region, an underground explosion in 1914 (
Canada's worst mine disaster) killed 189 people — almost twenty percent of the community's population and half the mine's workforce. A further explosion in 1926 killed two others. After the mine closed in 1939, Hillcrest experienced a period of economic decline.
In 1979, the former I.D. No. 5, which included the former hamlet of Hillcrest, amalgamated with
Bellevue Bellevue means "beautiful view" in French.
Bellevue or Belle Vue may refer to:
Places
Australia
* Bellevue, Queensland
* Bellevue, Western Australia
* Bellevue Hill, New South Wales
Canada
* Bellevue, Alberta
* Bellevue, Newfoundlan ...
,
Blairmore,
Coleman
Coleman may refer to:
Places Antarctica
* Coleman Glacier (Antarctica)
* Coleman Peak, Ross Island
Canada
* Coleman, Alberta
* Coleman, Ontario
* Coleman, Prince Edward Island
United Kingdom
* Coleman, Leicester, England
United States
* C ...
and
Frank to form the Municipality of Crowsnest Pass.
Demographics
In the
2021 Census of Population
The 2021 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population with a reference date of May 11, 2021. It follows the 2016 Canadian census, which recorded a population of 35,151,728. The overall response rate was 98%, which is sli ...
conducted by
Statistics Canada
Statistics Canada (StatCan; ), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and culture. It is headquartered in ...
, Hillcrest had a population of 640 living in 324 of its 373 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 597. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.
See also
*
List of communities in Alberta
The province of Alberta, Canada, is divided into ten types of Local government in Canada, local governments – urban municipalities (including List of cities in Alberta, cities, List of towns in Alberta, towns, List of villages in Alberta, vil ...
*
List of designated places in Alberta
A designated place is a type of geographic unit used by Statistics Canada to disseminate census data. It is usually "a small community that does not meet the criteria used to define incorporated municipalities or Statistics Canada population ce ...
References
{{Reflist, 30em
:*''Crowsnest and its People'', Crowsnest Pass Historical Society, 1979.
:*https://www.newz.it/2017/06/20/storia-di-emigrazione-calabrese-103-anni-fa-la-tragedia-hillcrest-mines-dove-persero-la-vita-4-minatori-di-mammola/280360
:*Tragedia a Hillcrest Mines 19-6-1914 - Storia di emigrazione Calabrese, dove persero la vita 4 minatori di Mammola RC
Designated places in Alberta
Former hamlets in Alberta
Localities in Crowsnest Pass, Alberta