Alberta’s Ghost Towns
Alberta has alway been a highly natural resource based economy and the result is that many towns were formed in periods of economic growth by workers and prospectors. When the resource was depleted or the mines closed, the residents of many of the towns migrated elsewhere. Other communities were destroyed by natural disaster and of course there was a natural migration of people into the urban centers as farming became more efficient.
Anthracite, Alberta
Anthracite is a former coal mining town in Banff National Park. Most Albertans have driving right through it without realized since the TransCanada Highway goes right through the center of the former townsite.
Bankhead, Alberta
Bankhead is a former coal mining town in Banff National Park. It was constructed after the Anthracite mine shut down about 2km west. Many buildings and artifacts still exist in Bankhead today.
Image: Dietmar Rabich / Wikimedia Commons / “Banff National Park (AB, Canada), Bankhead, Lower Bankhead, Coal Mine Train — 2022 — 2222” / CC BY-SA 4.0
Georgetown, Alberta
Georgetown is a former coal mining town between Canmore and Banff National Park. It was constructed after the Anthracite mine shut down. Little remains of the town, but you can still spot some artifacts scattered, and even building remains.
Lille, Alberta
Experience a little piece of Alberta’s coal mining past by exploring the abandoned Lille, Alberta located about 6km northeast of Blairmore in the Crowsnest Pass. Lille was a testament to the coal mining roots of the Crowsnest Pass and with a little bit of hiking, you can explore what’s left of this ghost town!
Minnewanka Landing, Alberta
Forgotten beneath the frigid waters of Lake Minnewanka lies a town built as a playground for the rich and affluent. This town would later by destroyed as the result of Calgary’s growth. This is that story…
Rowley, Alberta
Rowley is an Albertan western town that thanks to the care of a few remaining locals has been frozen in time. Visiting Rowley feels like stepping back into 1930s Alberta. Definitely worth checking out if you are in the Drumheller area!
Image: Thank you for visiting my page from Canada, CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Saunders, Alberta
Saunders, Alberta was a coal mining town near Nordegg between 1913 – 1954. Today, it is a popular camping and hiking destination near the Kiska/Willson PLUZ. While most buildings don’t exist anymore – there is a cemetery and a railway bridge truss.
