History of the Granite Creek, Coalmont, Blakeburn Area
Granite Creek
Gold was first discovered on Granite Creek during the time when prospectors were rushing North to the Barkerville area around 1858. The area was considered low grade, abandoned by the White miners, and mined by the Chinese for the next 25 years. You can still see the “tailings” or piles of rock the Chinese moved by hand to get to the gold between the Granite Creek Rec. Site and the junction of Granite Creek and the Tulameen River. In July of 1885, a major gold strike occurred, and by the end of the year, Granite Creek had grown to over 2,000 people, mostly miners looking for their “bonanza”. By 1886, there were 40 houses, six saloons, seven stores, and several hotels, and it was reported to be the fourth largest community in B.C., if not in size, certainly in stature. That year, gold production reached its peak with $193,000 reported, but undoubtedly it was much higher. There was a lot of platinum mixed in with the gold, and to the early prospectors it was an annoyance because it couldn’t be separated from the gold by panning. They threw hundreds of pounds of it back into the river, to be covered up by tailings, although eventually its worth became known, and the miners hoarded it. There is a legend that a Scandinavian prospector named Johanseen collected 25 pounds of platinum and buried it in a bucket near his cabin at Granite Creek. Over the years, the old townsite has become pockmarked by treasure hunters digging for it.
The gold supply eventually ran out, and by the turn of the century, Granite Creek was virtually deserted. There was a major fire on April 4, 1907, one of several which destroyed most of the derelict buildings (including Johanseen’s cabin). There are few structures remaining, although a local group is trying to save what’s left. You can get to Granite Creek by crossing the bridge over the Tulameen river on the South side of Coalmont, and turning left. The bridge is at the foot of Bettes Ave., one block East of Parrish Ave. About a kilometer later on a good gravel road, you’ll find the old townsite on a plateau overlooking Granite Creek, and just across the creek, the Rec. Site and campground. The old Cemetery is up the hill overlooking the townsite, on your right as you take the road to Blakeburn, and is still in use by the residents of Coalmont and Tulameen. A lot of the old gravesites are still visible, dating back to the heyday of this once bustling town. The Granite Creek Post Office, in operation since 1886, closed in 1918 when Blakeburn was established.
Coalmont
Coal was first discovered in the area as early as 1858, a fully exposed vein that reportedly could be lit by a match. The Columbia Coal and Coke Co. Ltd. established the townsite of Coalmont in 1910, although their office was in Granite Creek, and the lumber to build the necessary buildings came from their sawmill in nearby Tulameen. The original minesite was on the hillside overlooking the South side of the Tulameen River, a bit West of Coalmont, and part of the wooden bridge abutment used for access still survives on the South shore of the Tulameen River, about a kilometre upstream of the present bridge. They were attempting to mine the coal from underneath, but the ground proved unstable, and the coal seams fractured. Coalmont Collieries took over the operation in 1913, and began mining higher on the mountain, accessing the coal from above, but production and all development in the town stopped when War broke out in 1914. After the War, owners Blake Wilson and Pat Burns reorganized the company, and resumed operations. When the three mile long Aerial Tramway was built to carry the coal from the Blakeburn minesite down to Coalmont, production increased from about 10,000 tons a year to over 100,000 and it eventually peaked at 167,461 tons in 1928. The Tramway operated by gravity, the full hoppers of coal moving down providing the energy to take the empty buckets back up, and it could transport a ton of coal a minute. The Kettle Valley Railway, part of the C.P.R., was the town’s main customer, buying coal for its Steam Engines. The old KVR railbed (sans rails) is now part of the well maintained Trans Canada Trail.
The older buildings in Coalmont, like the Hotel, Meat Market, General Store, Livery Stable, and our cabin, F.R.E.D., date to 1911-2 when the town was established. F.R.E.D. had a twin which was the Post Office from 1948-50, and was destroyed by fire in the 1960’s. Both buildings were located on the West side of Parrish Ave. between Main St. and Front St. Our cabin, which was the Post Office in 1951-52, survived and was moved diagonally across the intersection of Main & Parrish during the 1970’s. The Post Office moved into the General Store in 1952, and Walt Smart took over as Postmaster. Walt ran the General Store from 1946 to 1971, and later the Coalmont Emporium, which he built directly across the street, where the old twin Post Offices once sat. His father, James, was the Postmaster from 1942 to 1950, and his grandfather, W.H. Holmes, was a placer miner at Granite Creek during the Gold Rush days. His son, Jim, is the town “walkahaulic”, and a renowned photographer. Please visit his website listed on the “Links” page of our website, you will be most impressed.
The Train Station and Water Tower were located to the South side of the KVR tracks, just West of Parrish Ave., in the vacant field to your right as you turn into town from Princeton. If you proceed West on Main St., out of town towards Tulameen, on your left you will see a large concrete pillar, which was the lower anchor point for the Tramway. The “Tipple”, or lower terminal for the Tramway, was a large three story building, and once surrounded this structure. There are some other ruins in the area, notably the old Power House, now collapsed, and everywhere you look you can see pieces of the steel cable from the Tramway, embedded in the spilled coal which litters the area. If you look at the larger pieces of coal, you will often find veins of clear yellow amber running through it, and green amber (resinite) has also been found. There are also large piles of “clinkers” which is fused coal ash from the Power House. Looking North, across the highway, there are still two buildings standing that were part of “Upper Town”. Just across the KVR right of way is a house, still in use, on the East side of the highway, and further to the East of it is the derelict remains of the last of the “Seven Sisters”, a row of seven identical buildings that housed some of the workers.
Blakeburn
The 1920’s were boomtown years for Coalmont, and the new town of Blakeburn, located near the minesite on the slopes of Lodestone Mountain. Blakeburn had its own Post Office from 1922 to 1940. On August 13, 1930, an explosion in the #4 mine, followed by fire and afterdamp (gas) killed 45 miners, one of the province’s worst disasters. Many were buried in the Princeton cemetery, and there is a plaque in Coalmont dedicated to the memory of those who died. This was the beginning of the end for the mine, and production dwindled until the last mine, #5, closed in 1940. During the 1950’s, the Mullen Open Pit Mine operated in the same area. To get to Blakeburn, continue about 6 km. up the Forest Service Road (FSR’s are generally speaking good gravel roads, but narrow in spots, and often traveled by heavy trucks) from Granite Creek. There is a huge dumpsite near the Mullen Coal Chutes, with rubble from bygone days. It is located on the Arrastra Creek FSR, about 1 km. past where the Lodestone FSR turns uphill to the right. Watch for a wide clearing on your left, the dump is downhill from the left side of the clearing, and the remains of the Mullen Coal Chute is hidden in the trees to the right of the clearing, almost impossible to see from the road. Further to the right is a coal-dust covered trail leading back towards the Coal Chutes which is the route of the old Narrow Guage Railway. Along this trail you will find the ruins of the old Tramway Terminal, now just a huge concrete block. If you travel the opposite direction along the old Railway, with close exploration, you may be able to find the portals of the mines, now completely sealed and grown over. You can get to the bottom of the Chute by going down the hill on the Arrastra Creek FSR to the first sharp right hand corner. A trail to your left leads back uphill to the Coal Chute (again, you can’t see it from the road), and there are some ruins of the old “Tent Town” (the houses originally had canvas roofs) along the way. Across the Arrastra Creek FSR from the Dump Site is an old trail running uphill past a few remaining ruins, and ending in a small clearing where the School once stood. This is just below the Lodestone FSR. Also just off the Arrastra Creek FSR, across from the Tramline Terminal, are the remains of “Downtown Blakeburn”; a concrete foundation of the Steam Plant, and piles of timbers from the Bunkhouse, Cookhouse, and Wash House are all that remain.
As you start along the Lodestone FSR, on your right you will see a large clearing (the old Sports Field), littered with piles of steel cable from the Tramway, which ran up the hill, and then over the top and down to Coalmont. You can hike to some of the towers. Further on, downhill to your left, you can view part of the Mullin Open Pit mine. This mine operated from 1954 to 1957, producing another 148,268 tons of coal for the Granby Company’s steam-electric power station which supplied electricity for Princeton. Total coal production from the Blakeburn area between 1912 and 1957 was 2,314,970 tons. At the 8.5 km. point, downhill on your left is a concrete pad where the compressor sat for the #5 mine. Just a bit further along, there is an active Coalmine, and you must beware of large trucks any time you drive the area above Granite Creek. At 12.5 km., on your right, is a cabin that belonged to “Nine-mile Bert”, a hermit who died there one winter. If you keep on going, you can get to Lodestone Lake, but the last part is 4WD ONLY !! The road follows part of the route of the old Hudson’s Bay Co. “Brigade Trail” from Hope to Tulameen and beyond.
