Hillcrest Mines

Charles 'Chippy' Hill first prospected for coal prior to 1900 and by 1905 established the Hillcrest Coal and Coke Company and the townsite of Hillcrest Mines. Hillcrest is known for its wide main streets and its good climatic conditions which are partly created by an eddy formed by the chinook winds. Hillcrest is often referred to by its residents as the 'Banana Belt' of the Crowsnest Pass. The hamlet grew into a very busy community with a population of about 1000 by 1914. In that year on June 19 the name Hillcrest was indelibly written into Canada's history as the site of the nation's worst mining disaster. 189 miners were killed leaving 400 orphans and 150 widows. Businesses in Hillcrest continued to prosper even through the mine's eventually closed in 1939. Today, Hillcrest is a residential community with limited commercial establishments. Its most recent claim to fame occurred as the Lost Creek Wildfire almost broached the town's boundaries on August 2, 2003.