Hillcrest, Alberta

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title: "Hillcrest, Alberta" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["designated-places-in-alberta", "former-hamlets-in-alberta", "localities-in-crowsnest-pass,-alberta"] topic_path: "general/designated-places-in-alberta" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hillcrest,_Alberta" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::data[format=table title="Infobox settlement"]

Field	Value
name	Hillcrest
settlement_type	Former hamlet
pushpin_map	CAN AB Crowsnest Pass#Canada Alberta
pushpin_label_position
subdivision_type	Country
subdivision_name	Canada
subdivision_type1	Province
subdivision_name1	Alberta
subdivision_type3	Specialized municipality
subdivision_name3	Crowsnest Pass
government_type	Unincorporated
leader_title	Governing body
leader_name	Municipality of Crowsnest Pass Council
established_title2
established_title3
area_footnotes	(2021)
area_land_km2	0.51
population_as_of	2021
population_footnotes
population_total	640
population_density_km2	1251.7
timezone	MST
utc_offset	−7
timezone_DST	MDT
utc_offset_DST	−6
coordinates
elevation_footnotes
::

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|elevation_m = |postal_code_type = |postal_code = |area_code = |blank_name = |blank_info = |blank1_name = |blank1_info = |website = |footnotes =

Hillcrest, also known as Hillcrest Mines, is an urban community in the Rocky Mountains within the Municipality of Crowsnest Pass in southwest Alberta, Canada. It was once a hamlet under the jurisdiction of Improvement District (ID) No. 5 prior to 1979 when the former ID No. 5 amalgamated with four other municipalities to form Crowsnest Pass.

History

| title = Population history of Hillcrest | type = Canada | align = right | width = | shading = | percentages = | state = | footnote = | source = Statistics Canada

|1941|783 |1951|892 |1956|594 |1961|618 |1966|551 |1971|613 |1976|653 |1981| |1986| |1991| |1996| |2001|-- |2006|564 |2011|-- |2016|597 |2021|640 Hillcrest was named after Charles Plummer Hill, an early coal prospector and entrepreneur who also founded Porthill, Idaho. Hill grew up and was educated in Seaford, Delaware before moving northwest. The Hillcrest Coal and Coke Company, incorporated on January 31, 1905, began constructing the community the same year, and the Canadian Pacific Railway soon built a spur, for transporting coal from the Hillcrest Mine, and a train station. Hillcrest soon grew to a population of about 1,000. The post office opened in 1907 with Mr. Hill as the postmaster.

Although the mine was successful, and considered one of the safest in the region, an underground explosion in 1914 (Canada's worst mine disaster) killed 189 people — almost twenty percent of the community's population and half the mine's workforce. A further explosion in 1926 killed two others. After the mine closed in 1939, Hillcrest experienced a period of economic decline.

In 1979, the former I.D. No. 5, which included the former hamlet of Hillcrest, amalgamated with Bellevue, Blairmore, Coleman and Frank to form the Municipality of Crowsnest Pass.

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Hillcrest had a population of 640 living in 324 of its 373 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 597. With a land area of 0.51 km2, it had a population density of in 2021.

References

:*Crowsnest and its People, Crowsnest Pass Historical Society, 1979. :*https://www.newz.it/2017/06/20/storia-di-emigrazione-calabrese-103-anni-fa-la-tragedia-hillcrest-mines-dove-persero-la-vita-4-minatori-di-mammola/280360 :*Tragedia a Hillcrest Mines 19-6-1914 - Storia di emigrazione Calabrese, dove persero la vita 4 minatori di Mammola RC

References

2. (1958). "Annual Report of the Dept. of Highways of the Province of Alberta". [[Alberta Transportation.
3. (1998-06-03). "Board Order: MGB 131/98". [[Alberta Municipal Affairs]].
4. (March 31, 1954). "Ninth Census of Canada, 1951". [[Statistics Canada.
5. (October 25, 1957). "Census of Canada, 1956". [[Statistics Canada.
6. (April 18, 1963). "1961 Census of Canada: Population". [[Statistics Canada.
7. (August 1968). "Census of Canada 1966: Population". [[Statistics Canada.
8. (March 1973). "1971 Census of Canada: Population". [[Statistics Canada]].
9. (May 1978). "1976 Census of Canada". [[Statistics Canada]].
10. (July 20, 2021). "Population and dwelling counts, for Canada, provinces and territories, and designated places, 2006 and 2001 censuses - 100% data (Alberta)". [[Statistics Canada]].
11. Crowsnest Pass Historical Society. (1979). "Crowsnest and its people". Crowsnest Pass Historical Society.
12. (February 9, 2022). "Population and dwelling counts: Canada and designated places". [[Statistics Canada]].

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