Crowsnest Pass Historic Sites & Interpretive Centres

Leitch Collieries opened in 1907, and was the only completely Canadian-owned mine in the Pass, and was singularly ambitious in scale. Owners built 107 coke ovens, arranged in a massive row, a huge wooden washery and a tipple with a daiy capacity of 1,000 to 2,000 tons of coal. Chaotic coal prices forced the mine to close in 1915. The stone remains of the original buildings display early coal mining methods and ways of life, and interpretive displays line the trails.

Enter the blackest dark at Bellevue's underground mine site, where several million tons of coal were extracted from the ground between the years of 1903 to 1961. The year of 1910 proved to be the most dangerous and deadly for workers, as two separate explosions killed more than 30 people. Strikes caused the mine to close periodically throughout its five decades of operations, but it remained profitable until the 1950s, when it became more viable to switch to diesel production.

This is the final resting site for victims of Canada's worst mining disaster, a 1914 explosion that killed 189 miners, leaving 130 women widowed and 400 children fatherless. Ruins include the engine house. A monument dedicated to all but six of the miners, who were returned home to Nova Scotia to be buried, was erected in the centre of the cemetery in 2000.

The Frank Slide Interpretive Centre highlights the rich history of the Crowsnest Pass amid the breathtaking beauty of the Canadian Rockies. Visitors are taken through a variety of displays, videos, interpretive programs and presentations detailing the fascinating life of the Pass. Displays throughout the Centre feature the 1903 Frank Slide (rockslide-avalanche), the arrival of the Canadian Pacific Railway, European settlement, early underground coal mining, evidence of prehistoric man and community life in the early 20th century. Pathways around the Centre provide spectacular views of the Frank Slide and surrounding area.