Bankshead

Bankshead is an abandoned coal mining town in Banff National Park.  At one time, Bankshead was more modern than Banff, sporting electric power from a coal fired plant and indoor plumbing.  The Canadian Pacific Railway started mining coal there in 1903 but it was closed under low prices and a strike in 1922.

Coal still stretches under Cascade Mountain but by the late 1920s it was no longer deemed acceptable to mine and gather resources in the National Parks.  The buildings were moved off or demolished for the most part with the exception of foundations or shells.  A nice trail with interpretative signs leads through the site though and some of the buildings were moved to Banff where they can still be seen.

This shell of a building was the lamp house.  Each miner had their own numbered lamp that was given to them as they entered the mine.  At the end of the shift they knew to send a search party if the lamp wasn't returned.