Frank

Founded in 1901, and the site of the first mining operations in the Crowsnest Pass, the town of Frank quickly grew into a very viable community with a well established business area. In the early morning of April 29, 1903, an avalanche of rocks fell from Turtle Mountain covering about three square km. of the valley floor in less than 100 seconds. The entire operating plant of the mine was wiped out trapping the miners working underground. After 13 hours of digging they managed to escape their tomb to view the devastation that was left after the rock fall. Although much of the main town was left intact, many of the businesses and homes along the eastern edge of town had been destroyed. An estimated 70 people died in the slide. Within a short time, however, the mine was again in full operation. Frank was the site of many businesses including a brick works, lime kiln, zinc smelter and the Rocky Mountain Sanatorium that took advantage of the curing qualities of the sulphur spring just west of the town. Frank was also home to a most famous 'Tenderloin District' and lays claim to such famous characters as Monty Lewis. The town expanded to the north in 1905, and in 1911, the federal government ordered the original (south) townsite to close and many of the buildings were moved to other communities. Frank is now the home of a residential area and commercial strip north of the highway. The Frank Slide Interpretive Centre opened in 1985 to portray the exciting story of the slide and history of the Pass.