Coalhurst, Alta. wrapped up its annual Miner’s Days this weekend, honouring the town’s history and remembering the 16 men killed in the 1935 mining disaster.
“My father and my grandfather and my uncles all worked in the Coalhurst mine,” 80-year-old Lawrence Watmough said.
Sunk in 1910, the mine quickly became a major producer for the thriving southern Alberta town.
“Between Picture Butte and Magrath, there was well over 100 coal mines in this area and Coalhurst was one of the large ones,” historian Belinda Crowson said.
“By the 1930s, Coalhurst had a population of about 1,200 people, most of them miners and their families.”
But on Dec. 9, 1935, tragedy struck and many lives were changed forever.
“Sometime between 4 p.m. and 4:30 p.m., a methane explosion (happened) in the mine,” Crowson said. “Three men came out at around 4:30 p.m. and another 12 survivors came out as well. Sixteen men were killed in the mine.”
With it being so close to Christmas, Watmough says his family had a second income on their nearby farm, so they decided to give up their shifts to allow others to make money.
“If they would have stayed on their shift, we would have lost most of my family.”
It’s a day his father never talked about. Watmough only heard the story about nine years ago from his uncle just before he passed away.
The funeral service for the mining victims is one of the largest Lethbridge has ever seen, with an estimated 5,000 people in attendance.
Every year the town of Coalhurst remembers the victims as it celebrates its annual Miner’s Days.
It’s a tradition Watmough became involved in five years ago when he started organizing the Show and Shine.
This year, he even had a special role as the honorary parade marshal.
“It’s a challenge to try and present things that happened so many years ago, but with Miner’s Days we are trying to honour people,” Watmough said.
After the disaster, the mine was closed in 1936 and within a few years, Coalhurst almost became a ghost town.
Watmough says it’s important to remember the town’s history to keep moving forward.
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