$50.00 CAD
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Nice image of miner sitting on a coal car wearing his mining helmet, at the entrance of a mine shaft on the side of wooded hill. Two other men looking on.
Typewritten on back “Coal Mining Edmonton City Alta” and photo # “15866”.
Printed on thicker paper.
19.50 x 24 cm // 7 ⅝” x 9 ½”
(Red text is an electronic watermark that is not physically part of the photo for sale)
In the early twentieth century Alberta was one of Canada’s main producers of coal. Several coal deposits run through the Edmonton area.
...regular mining operations began in the 1880s. Usually operated by one or two men, these small mines were typically dug right into the banks of the North Saskatchewan River valley where the coal seams had become visible through erosion. These small operations were commonly called “gopher hole” mines.
Coal mining in Alberta was seasonal work. Because there were so many mines in operation, there was not enough demand to make them work at full capacity. Winter was the busy season for coal mining, as cold weather increased the demand for coal...
Coal mining was an important industry around Edmonton. Between 1880 and 1974, when the last commercial mine in Edmonton closed, there were 153 mines and prospects recorded in the city...By 1914 coal mining was a large industry, with over 8000 people employed by mines in Alberta. The coal mined around Edmonton had a relatively high moisture and ash content. Considered domestic coal, it was used primarily to heat homes in Alberta..
https://www.edmonton.ca/city_government/edmonton_archives/mining-in-beverly.aspx
