BRULE

NAME: Brule COUNTY: N/A ROADS: 4WD GRID: 2 CLIMATE: Mild summer,cold winter BEST TIME TO VISIT: Summer

COMMENTS: Central Alberta REMAINS: A few current residents.

Brule is the story of another coal mining town that no longer exists but still does. The town was established in 1912 to furnish coal for the Canadian Northern Railway. When the First World War broke out in 1914, Brule found itself in the midst of a genuine boom. At its peak in the mid 1920s it boasted a population of 500, its residents able to entertain themselves at a theater, a golf course, and even a racetrack. And then—almost as suddenly as it began—it was all over and Brule faced disaster. The seam of high-grade steam coal played out and there was no alternative but to shut the whole operation down. The end came in 1928. Miners and their families began leaving to look for work in other mining communities. Brule was completely deserted by 1932. Left standing was a ghost town of some 100 buildings. The town was taken apart building by building, board by board and the lumber hauled some 200 miles to the city of Edmonton where a whole block of cottage-type houses were constructed and still exist today. A few cottages were left at Brule from which, like the Phoenix of Greek mythology, a new Brule has sprung up from its ashes. A few people now inhabit the once deserted ghost town and that is just fine with its residents who like its slow moving and peaceful atmosphere. H.B. Chenoweth

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