CADOMIN
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CADOMIN |
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NAME: Cadomin COUNTY: N/a ROADS: 2WD GRID: 1 CLIMATE: Warm summers, cold winters BEST TIME TO VISIT: Late spring to early fall |
COMMENTS:
About 50 permanent full-time residents. The local general store has marvelous old historical photos and newspaper clippings in display for visitors to enjoy. REMAINS: Mine ruins; several abandoned homes |
| Cadomin was the second coal mine established on the western arm of Alberta’s Coal Branch. And although the town once boasted a population of 1,800 in the early 1930s, the community is barely hanging at the turn of the 21st century with a full-time population not exceeding 50 residents.Claims for coal mining were originally staked in 1912, and following five years of exploration and limited extraction, full operations were initiated in 1917 by the Cadomin Coal Company Ltd. The mine bcame highly profitable, utilizing the privately-built Mountain Park rail line to ship its coal. The town also became the primary community of the entire western Coal Branch, boasting specialized services as a Royal Canadian Mounted Police detachment, a government liquor store, a drug store and a branch of a national chartered bank.However, like many of the other coal mining communities in the Coal Branch, the advent of diesal fuel would change the fortune’s of Cadomin’s mine and it closed in 1952. Most of the miners left to other towns, while some remained to find employment at the new limestone quarry.The town’s population continues a slow decline, with some residents still working at the coal mine in the nearby Luscar, which opened in 1969. Services are limited, with only a general store and small motel/coffee shop serving residents and visitors. Meanwhile, more and more of the citizens in Cadomin are seasonal, converting many of the old miners’ homes into summer cottages. Submitted by Johnnie Bachusky. Submitted by: Johnnie Bachusky |
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