Mercoal, Alberta

{{Infobox settlement

| name = Mercoal

| other_name =

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| settlement_type = Locality

| motto =

| image_skyline = Photo714326869246 inner 29-121-703-140-73-914-629-890.jpg

| image_caption = Mercoal, shortly after mine closure, Spring 1960

| pushpin_map = CAN AB Yellowhead#Alberta

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| pushpin_mapsize = 220

| subdivision_type = Country

| subdivision_name = Canada

| subdivision_type1 = Province

| subdivision_name1 = Alberta

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| subdivision_type3 = Municipal district

| subdivision_name3 = Yellowhead County

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| government_type = Unincorporated

| leader_title = Mayor

| leader_name = {{Yellowhead County Council|mayor}}

| leader_title1 = Governing body

| leader_name1 = {{Yellowhead County Council}}

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| timezone = MST

| utc_offset = −7

| timezone_DST = MDT

| utc_offset_DST = −6

| coordinates = {{coord|53|09|37|N|117|05|43|W|region:CA-AB|display=inline,title}}

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| area_code = 780, 587, 825

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Mercoal, a former coal mining town, is located in the Yellowhead County of western Alberta, Canada. It was one of several communities along the historic Coal Branch segment of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway (now part of the Canadian National Railway), which included Embarras, Robb, Coalspur, Coal Valley, Cadomin, Luscar, and Mountain Park. At its peak in the late 1940s and early 1950s the town had over 800 residents. Mercoal declined after the mines closed in 1959, and it is now essentially a ghost town with only a small number of summer residences remaining. It is situated on Highway 40, {{convert|70|km|abbr=on}} southwest of Edson, {{convert|8|km|0|abbr=on}} west of Coalspur.

History

{{stack|{{Historical populations

| title = Population history
of Mercoal

| type = Canada

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| source = Statistics Canada{{cite book | url=https://ia801601.us.archive.org/24/items/1951981951M71954engfra/1951981951M71954engfra.pdf | title=Ninth Census of Canada, 1951 | publisher=Dominion Bureau of Statistics | volume=SP-7 (Population: Unincorporated villages and hamlets) | pages=55–57 | date=March 31, 1954 | accessdate=October 24, 2021}}{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/download/195692506A1957engfra/195692506A1957engfra.pdf | title=Census of Canada, 1956 | publisher=Dominion Bureau of Statistics | volume=Population of unincorporated villages and settlements | pages=56–59 | date=October 25, 1957 | accessdate=October 24, 2021}}

|1941|91

|1951|977

|1956|972

}}}}

Mercoal's name was an acronym for the McLeod River Hard Coal Company, co-owned by Nick Gurvich, who opened an underground coal mine in 1920. In 1924 the mine was sold to Saunders Ridge Coal Company, Ltd.Toni Ross, Oh! The Coal Branch (Edmonton: Friesen, 1974), p. 59 The Mercoal mine was the last major operator in the Coal Branch area, and it attracted workers from other Coal Branch towns after the closure of the mines at Mountain Park in 1950 and Cadomin in 1952. The Mercoal mine finally closed on July 17, 1959.{{cite book|last=Kyba|first=Daniel and Jane Ross|title=Exploring the historic Coal Branch|year=2001|publisher=Rocky Mountain Books, 336 p.|location=Calgary, Alberta|isbn=0-921102-83-6}}

References

Category:Ghost towns in Alberta

Category:Localities in Yellowhead County