Coleman, Alberta

History

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). Coleman was incorporated as a village on 11 January 1904. It then incorporated as a town on 10 September 1910.

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.

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 in gauge air driven thermos bottle mine locomotive. Much of the downtown section now forms the Coleman National Historic Site.

Geography

Climate

Coleman has a subarctic climate (Dfc) with mild to warm summers and cold, snowy winters. |Jan record high C = 11.5 |Feb record high C = 13.9 |Mar record high C = 18.3 |Apr record high C = 25.6 |May record high C = 29.0 |Jun record high C = 30.0 |Jul record high C = 35.0 |Aug record high C = 34.0 |Sep record high C = 32.0 |Oct record high C = 26.0 |Nov record high C = 16.0 |Dec record high C = 13.5 |year record high C = 35.0 |Jan record low C = -39.4 |Feb record low C = -37.5 |Mar record low C = -37.2 |Apr record low C = -24.4 |May record low C = -8.3 |Jun record low C = -5.6 |Jul record low C = -3.3 |Aug record low C = -7.0 |Sep record low C = -11.0 |Oct record low C = -27.0 |Nov record low C = -37.0 |Dec record low C = -41.1 |year record low C = -41.1

Demographics

|1906|915 |1911|1557 |1916|1559 |1921|1590 |1926|2044 |1931|1704 |1936|2129 |1941|1870 |1946|1809 |1951|1961 |1956|1568 |1961|1713 |1966|1507 |1971|1534 |1976|1543 |1981| |1986| |1991| |1996| |2001| |2006|-- |2011|1366 |2016|1475 |2021|1441

In the 2021 Census of Population, the urban population centre of Coleman, as delineated by Statistics Canada, recorded a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of 1.99 km2, it had a population density of in 2021.

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 change from its 2011 population of 1,366. With a land area of 1.97 km2, it had a population density of in 2016.

Notable people

• Joe Kryczka, Justice of the Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta, president of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association
• Rick Rypien, NHL Hockey Player for the Vancouver Canucks and Winnipeg Jets

References

References

1. (January 2012). "Alberta Private Sewage Systems 2009 Standard of Practice Handbook: Appendix A.3 Alberta Design Data (A.3.A. Alberta Climate Design Data by Town)". Safety Codes Council.
2. Coleman Board of Trade. (1953). "Coleman's 50th Anniversary Booklet". Lethbridge Herald.
3. (20 January 1901). "North-West Territories Gazette". Government of the North-West Territories.
4. (15 September 1910). "Alberta Gazette". Government of Alberta.
5. (15 October 2021). "Location and History Profile – Municipality of Crowsnest Pass". [[Alberta Municipal Affairs]].
6. "Discover Crowsnest Heritage » Coleman National Historic Site".
7. (1907). "1906 Census: Northwest Provinces (Manitoba Saskatchewan Alberta)". [[Statistics Canada.
8. (22 August 1949). "1946 Census of Alberta". [[Statistics Canada.
9. (8 March 1963). "1961 Census of Canada". [[Statistics Canada.
10. (October 1967). "1961 Census of Canada". [[Statistics Canada.
11. (March 2022). "1971 Census of Canada". [[Statistics Canada]].
12. (June 1977). "Population: Geographic Distributions – Census Divisions and Subdivisions, Western Provinces and the Territories". [[Statistics Canada]].
13. (7 February 2018). "Population and dwelling counts, for Canada, provinces and territories, and population centres, 2016 and 2011 censuses – 100% data (Alberta)". [[Statistics Canada]].
14. (9 February 2022). "Population and dwelling counts: Canada and population centres". [[Statistics Canada]].