In 1903, a new townsite was laid out a few kilometres west of Blairmore, to service a new coal mine operated by the International Coal and Coke Company. Initial names of Paulson's Camp or McGillivray Hill were rejected by the post office, settling on Coleman (after the mother's maiden name of the president and mine owner A. C. Flumerfelt's wife, Ada, and the middle name of his youngest daughter, Norma Coleman Flumerfelt).[6] Coleman was incorporated as a village on 11 January 1904.[1] It then incorporated as a town on 10 September 1910.[2]
A feature of Coleman was the mine's 100 (later 216) coke ovens located at it outskirts, which operated from 1906 to 1952. The town grew rapidly, surpassing its neighbour Blairmore as the largest in the region. Coleman had an opera house from 1908 until it burned down in 1948.
Coleman persevered through strikes (1911 and 1932), floods (1923 and 1942), and fires (1948). As the coal mines in the region gradually closed, Coleman's commercial importance waned in favour of Blairmore. On 3 November 1978, the Government of Alberta passed the Crowsnest Pass Municipal Unification Act, which led to the formal amalgamation of the Town of Coleman with the Village of Bellevue, the Town of Blairmore, the Village of Frank, and Improvement District (ID) No. 5 on 1 January 1979.[3]
Coleman's coal mining heritage is evident in its several historic buildings, a regional museum, the ruins of its coal plant and coke ovens, several nearby abandoned mines, and the "biggest piggy bank in the world" made from a 36-inch (910 mm) gauge air driven thermos bottle mine locomotive. Much of the downtown section now forms the Coleman National Historic Site.[7]
Geography
Climate
Coleman has a subarctic climate (Dfc) with mild to warm summers and cold, snowy winters.
In the 2021 Census of Population, the urban population centre of Coleman, as delineated by Statistics Canada, recorded a population of 1,441 living in 722 of its 907 total private dwellings, a change of -2.3% from its 2016 population of 1,475. With a land area of 1.99 km2 (0.77 sq mi), it had a population density of 724.1/km2 (1,875.5/sq mi) in 2021.[5]
As a population centre in the 2016 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Coleman recorded a population of 1,475 living in 696 of its 891 total private dwellings, an 8% change from its 2011 population of 1,366. With a land area of 1.97 km2 (0.76 sq mi), it had a population density of 748.7/km2 (1,939.2/sq mi) in 2016.[15]
^"Table 5: Population of urban centres, 1916-1946, with guide to locations". 1946 Census of Alberta(PDF). Vol. Population. Ottawa: Dominion Bureau of Statistics. 22 August 1949. pp. 397–400. Retrieved 24 October 2021.
^"Table 6: Population by census subdivisions, 1901–1961". 1961 Census of Canada. Series 1.1: Historical, 1901–1961. Vol. I: Population. Ottawa: Dominion Bureau of Statistics. 8 March 1963. p. 6.77–6.83. Retrieved 24 October 2021.
^"Table 10: Population of incorporated cities, towns and villages, 1966 and 1961, with guide to locations". 1961 Census of Canada. Vol. Population: Incorporated Cities, Towns and Villages. Ottawa: Dominion Bureau of Statistics. October 1967. pp. 10–1 to 10–32. Retrieved 24 October 2021.
^"Table 2: Area and Density of Population, for Census Subdivisions Population by census subdivisions, 1971 (Alberta)". 1971 Census of Canada. Special Bulletin: Geography. Vol. Land Areas and Densities of Statistical Units. Ottawa: Statistics Canada. June 1973. pp. 2–41 to 2–44. Retrieved 24 October 2021.[permanent dead link]
^Population: Geographic Distributions – Census Divisions and Subdivisions, Western Provinces and the Territories. Statistics Canada. June 1977. pp. 3–41.
