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The Brule Mine |
| By 1908, serious prospecting for coal was undertaken in the Athabasca Valley, adjacent foothills and front ranges in anticipation of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway. The mining town of Brule was founded by Mackenzie and Mann in 1912 on the newly established Canadian Northern Railway line. In 1919, the mine was in full production employing 170. In 1920, the mine was bought by the Blue Diamond Coal Company. By 1922, the mine's production had peaked and the town had a population of about 600. by 1928 the mine closed. Brule became a ghost town, with only a park warden and one local family remaining. Salvage crews hired by the province reclaimed materials from the town for the ongoing war effort in 1942. |