Nordegg

Nordegg
Hamlet
Nordegg

Location of Nordegg in Alberta

Coordinates: 52°28′14″N 116°04′31″W / 52.4706°N 116.0753°W / 52.4706; -116.0753
Country  Canada
Province  Alberta
Region Central Alberta
Census Division No. 9
Municipal district Clearwater County
Incorporated 1914
Government
 • Reeve Pat Alexander
 • Governing body
 • MP Jim Eglinski (Yellowhead-Cons)
 • MLA Jason Nixon (Rimbey-Rocky Mountain House-Sundre-Wildrose)
Elevation 1,287 m (4,222 ft)
Time zone MST (UTC-7)
 • Summer (DST) MDT (UTC-6)
Postal code span T0M 2H0
Area code(s) +1-403
Highways Highway 11
Waterways Lake Abraham, Shunda Creek

Nordegg is a hamlet in west-central Alberta, Canada within Clearwater County.[1] It is located in the North Saskatchewan River valley in the foothills of the Canadian Rockies, just east of the crossroads of the David Thompson Highway and the Forestry Trunk Road, the Highway 734 spur of the Bighorn Highway.

History

In 1907, Martin Cohn (who later changed his surname to Nordegg) of the German Development Company, working with D.B. Dowling of the Geological Survey of Canada, staked claims covering coal deposits near the South Brazeau (now Blackstone), Bighorn, and North Saskatchewan Rivers. At Nordegg's urging, Brazeau Collieries Ltd. was founded to exploit them, and the Canadian Northern Railway (which later became part of the Canadian National Railway) agreed to build a rail line to the northern part of the area. This led to the founding of the coal-mining town that was named after Nordegg (the name probably means "North Corner" in a German dialect).[2]

A small camp was established at the future townsite in 1911, coal production began in earnest in 1912, and the rail line, known as the Brazeau Branch, arrived at the town in 1913. In 1914, the town was founded as one of the first planned communities in Alberta. World War I broke out, German assets in Canada were frozen, and in the summer of 1915 Martin Nordegg was asked to leave Canada. He departed for New York. He was allowed to return in 1921, but he had lost his position with the mine after the Lazard brothers voted him off of the Board of Directors. However, he never lost interest in the town that he had helped to plan.[2]

Coal mining

The coal deposits in the Nordegg area are part of the Gates Formation of the Luscar Group and are of Early Cretaceous (early Albian) age.[3] Of the five coal seams at Nordegg, two were mined: the No. 2 and No. 3 Seams, which averaged 7.75 feet (2.36 m) and 15.92 feet (4.85 m) thick, respectively. They were separated by about 123 feet (37 m) of rock. They dipped at an angle of 12° and were worked by underground room and pillar methods. Production peaked at 500,000 short tons (450,000 t) in 1923. Five small briquetting plants were added to the operation in 1937 to produce a marketable product from powdery, fine coal.[2]

On October 31, 1941, a large underground explosion in the No. 3 Mine killed 29 miners.[2][4] Mining resumed six weeks later, and during 1942 the Nordegg mine was one of the top coal-producing mines in Alberta. A surface mining operation was added in 1946.[2]

In 1950, a fire destroyed the tipple and five wooden briquetting plants. A new, more modern briquetting plant was built of metal[2] and began operation at the end of 1951, but a large government debt was incurred for its construction. Coal markets declined, primarily due to the decreasing use of steam coal as railroads replaced steam locomotives with diesel, and Brazeau Collieries closed permanently in 1955. The coal reserves at Nordegg had not been exhausted, but mining never resumed.[2] Total production was about 9.6 million tonnes of low- to medium-volatile bituminous coal.[5]

Nordegg's maximum population was about 2,500 in the early 1940s, while the largest number ever employed at the mine was close to 800.[2] After the mine closed most of the population left. Most of the surface coal processing operation is still standing. In 1993, it was declared a Provincial Historic Resource, and a National Historic Site of Canada in 2002. The original Nordegg town site is open to the public. At the mine site, visitors may experience a guided tour of the coal handling, processing and support facilities during the summer tourist season. Tourists should keep in mind that actual entrance into the underground mine itself is no longer possible or allowed, as time has caused the contents to collapse, thereby rendering a tour impossible. However, there is a stretch of about 16 feet into the entrances of the No. 2 and No. 3 Mines that have been restored and can be entered, but beyond that the entries are blocked off.

A land exchange with the Province of Alberta has stimulated redevelopment of Nordegg. A mountain acreage community, the North Nordegg Subdivision, is developing north of Highway 11, adjacent to the Shunda Creek Hostel. Clearwater County has released plans for the redevelopment of downtown Nordegg, much on the footprint of the original townsite.

Climate

Climate data for Nordegg
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 16.7
(62.1)		 19.5
(67.1)		 17.2
(63)		 26
(79)		 29.5
(85.1)		 30.6
(87.1)		 31.1
(88)		 32.2
(90)		 31
(88)		 26
(79)		 18.3
(64.9)		 15.5
(59.9)		 32.2
(90)
Average high °C (°F) −4.1
(24.6)		 −0.3
(31.5)		 3.4
(38.1)		 8.9
(48)		 13.8
(56.8)		 17.5
(63.5)		 20.2
(68.4)		 19.6
(67.3)		 15
(59)		 9.6
(49.3)		 0.9
(33.6)		 −3.4
(25.9)		 8.4
(47.1)
Daily mean °C (°F) −11.3
(11.7)		 −7.9
(17.8)		 −4.2
(24.4)		 1.7
(35.1)		 6.4
(43.5)		 10.1
(50.2)		 12.5
(54.5)		 11.9
(53.4)		 7.3
(45.1)		 2.4
(36.3)		 −5.8
(21.6)		 −10.1
(13.8)		 1.1
(34)
Average low °C (°F) −18.5
(−1.3)		 −15.5
(4.1)		 −11.7
(10.9)		 −5.6
(21.9)		 −1
(30)		 2.7
(36.9)		 4.8
(40.6)		 4.1
(39.4)		 −0.4
(31.3)		 −4.9
(23.2)		 −12.5
(9.5)		 −16.7
(1.9)		 −6.3
(20.7)
Record low °C (°F) −47.2
(−53)		 −47
(−53)		 −40.5
(−40.9)		 −26
(−15)		 −16.5
(2.3)		 −12.2
(10)		 −6.7
(19.9)		 −6.7
(19.9)		 −16
(3)		 −35
(−31)		 −43
(−45)		 −45
(−49)		 −47.2
(−53)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 26.6
(1.047)		 15.9
(0.626)		 25.9
(1.02)		 33.8
(1.331)		 73.4
(2.89)		 102.9
(4.051)		 106
(4.17)		 79.4
(3.126)		 59.7
(2.35)		 28
(1.1)		 21.6
(0.85)		 22
(0.87)		 595.1
(23.429)
Source: Environment Canada[6]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Alberta Municipal Affairs (2010-04-01). "Specialized and Rural Municipalities and Their Communities" (PDF). Retrieved 2010-06-22.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Belliveau, Anne (1999). Small moments in time, the story of Alberta's Big West country. Calgary, Alberta: Detselig Enterprises Ltd, 238 p. ISBN 1-55059-178-9.
  3. ↑ Mossop, G.D. and Shetsen, I. (compilers), Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists (1994). "The Geological Atlas of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin, Chapter 33: Coal Resources of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin". Retrieved 2016-06-20.
  4. ↑ Rocky Mountain House Reunion Historical Society (1977). Days Before Yesterday : History of Rocky Mountain House district. Rocky Mountain House: Rocky Mountain House Reunion Historical Society. p. 112. ISBN 0-88925-003-0.
  5. ↑ ERCB, 1985. Coal Mine Atlas: operating and abandoned coal mines in Alberta. Alberta Energy Resources Conservation Board, Report Series ERCB-45, Calgary, Alberta.
  6. ↑ Environment Canada—Canadian Climate Normals 1971–2000, accessed 23 March 2010

6. When Coal Was King: The Brazeau Collieries Operation at Nordegg, Alberta. Compiled by Anne (McMullen) Belliveau for the Nordegg Historical Society. 2001.

Coordinates: 52°28′14″N 116°4′31″W / 52.47056°N 116.07528°W / 52.47056; -116.07528

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