Introduction

Early Mining Communities

• Technology and Transportation
• Coal Companies
• Health & Environment

Why Some Communities Declined

Hosmer

Technology and Location

• Michel-Natal

Why Others Have Endured

Fernie: The Centre of the East Kootenays

• Administration
• Business
• Technology in the Form of Transportation

Fernie: The Centre of the East Kootenays

From it's beginning, Fernie was quick to become the largest administrative and business centre in the East Kootenay Region. From the late 1890’s through to the mid 1900’s the railway was a vital transportation system - linking communities to the rest of the world. The construction of the Crowsnest railway brought the settlers, travelers, tourists, businesses, and other people on which communities thrived. The railway was also responsible for bringing in supplies such as food, mail, machinery and other goods on which people depended. Two major railways, the Great Northern Railway coming North from the United States, and the British Columbia Southern Railway, a branch of the CPR, passed through Fernie. These linked the region to both the United States and central/eastern Canada and subsequently many businesses positioned their headquarters in this growing town.

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