Michel - Natal - Middletown Cemetery in Natal, British Columbia

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Michel-Natal-Middletown B.C. – a trio of coal mining communities which no longer exists.

About 15 minutes westbound on Hwy. 3 in the Crowsnest Pass cross the Alberta – British Columbia border, enter the short and narrow Michel Creek Valley where the town of Michel used to be. A little further was Middletown, and just beyond was the community of Natal.

All three coal mining communities – separated less than a kilometer from each other - have vanished. The only reminder of the past that is left is the Michel Hotel.

Michel was the first, established after the Crow's Nest Coal Company opened a mine site in 1899. The town, which had almost 500 residents by 1901, was considered the commercial centre in the valley. It was here miners and their families were offered company homes to live. It was also the location for the last hospital, a 19-bed, three-story structure located across Michel Creek from the Michel Hotel. With the growing success at the Michel mines, the town's population mushroomed to 1,200 by 1907.

The community of Natal was established in 1907, and until 1910 was known as Newtown or New Michel.

In 1964, the B.C. government, concerned by the ugliness and potential environmental disaster the valley presented for visitors, ordered that the residents be relocated to nearby Sparwood, which had been established in 1939 to be home for mine managers.

The sites of Michel, Natal and Middletown have all been reclaimed, and the ghosts have taken over.

http://www.ghosttownpix.com/bc/michelnatal.html

https://bcheritagefairsalumni.wordpress.com/2017/08/17/michel-natal/