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Category: Industrial

Fernie, BC, May, 1899

Fernie, BC, May, 1899

Fernie, B.C. with the coke ovens in the foreground, May, 1899.
The Fernie-Fort Steele Brewery with the Coal Creek in the foreground

The Fernie-Fort Steele Brewery with the Coal Creek in the foreground

The Brewery was the largest in the region and one of its founders, Fritz Sick moved to Lethbridge and established the Lethbridge Brewing and Malting Company.
Drawing relief during strike at Coal Creek, BC

Drawing relief during strike at Coal Creek, BC

Strikes took place in 1903, 1906 and 1911. The 1911 strike at Coal Creek and Michel involved 6,000 men and lasted eight months.
United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners Local 1220, 1909.

United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners Local 1220, 1909.

United Brotherhood of Carpenters & Joiners Local 1220 in front of the Crow’s Nest Pass Coal Company office, Labour Day, Fernie on Labour Day May 1, 1909.
Crow’s Nest Pass Coal Co. Bunkhouse, 1898.

Crow’s Nest Pass Coal Co. Bunkhouse, 1898.

Single men and men whose wives were in the old country lived in such accommodation.
Coke ovens at Fernie, BC

Coke ovens at Fernie, BC

By 1904, the Crow’s Nest Pass Coal Company operated 1,188 coke ovens in the region. In the ovens, coal was heated resulting in an almost pure carbon used […]
Miners at Coal Creek

Miners at Coal Creek

Italians made up a significant portion of the workforce at Coal Creek.  Twenty-eight Italians were killed in the 1902 disaster that had a total of 128 fatalities.
William Fernie and Philip Carosella at Coal Creek, BC

William Fernie and Philip Carosella at Coal Creek, BC

William Fernie and Philip Carosella at the opening of the “Peter” seam, Coal Creek, BC, 5 miles east of Fernie, 1889. Carosella became a prominent Fernie entrepreneur.
First Canadian Pacific Railway locomotive in Fernie, BC.

First Canadian Pacific Railway locomotive in Fernie, BC.

The CPR completed its line through Fernie in 1898.