Private Tour - Nordegg Mine National Historic Site

I booked a private tour of the Nordegg Historic site on Tuesday August 20th.  Many thanks to Whitney from Clearwater County.  She looks after the site on behalf of the County and was very accommodating.  I paid the fee for a private tour and our group had a guide with us for the entire day.

Initially it was hoped that we would be a group of about six.  But Arturo and Sharon were unable to make it, and Margarit had to go back to the city.  So it was just Chris and Connie and me.

We got there shortly after the visitor center opened, and were escorted into the site.  We spent the entire day exploring, and three different guides spelled each other off as I photographed with the big view camera.  They quickly came to understand why it was not an option for us to take part in one of their regular tours.  Most people just don't understand the glacial pace at which large format photography progresses, until they witness it first hand.

I knew a fair bit of the history of the mine, but learned a couple of things that I was previously unaware of.  Many of the mine buildings burnt in 1951 and were replaced with the metal buildings that currently remain on site.  These buildings were only in operation for about four years, until the mine closed in 1955.

The building that I previously thought of as the Maintenance Shop, is actually the Warehouse.  They didn't do any actual repair work in this building.  Rather it was an inventory of tools and parts for the mine.  I understand that the miners had to supply all of the own tools and equipment, and were even responsible for maintenance of their mine carts.  All supplies had to be purchased through the company store.  The warehouse is the oldest remaining building on the site and dates to 1914.

This is reminiscent of the old Tennessee Ernie Ford song "16 Tons".  Ford had a hit with the song in 1955, but it was written by Merle Travis and originally recorded in 1946.

    You load 16 tons, what do you get?

    Another day older and deeper in debt.

    St. Peter don't you call me, 'cause I can't go.

    I owe my soul to the company store.

It was nice to have permission to be there, and have free run of the place, with interpretive guides to answer any questions. We didn't have to feel rushed as we were there for the entire day.  Well worth the fee that we paid for the privilege...!