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49-754: Fort Steele is a heritage site in the East Kootenay region of southeastern British Columbia . This visitor attraction lies on the east shore of the Kootenay River between the mouths of the St. Mary River and Wild Horse River . The locality, on the merged section of highways 93 and 95 , is by road about 17 kilometres (11 mi) northeast of Cranbrook and 230 kilometres (143 mi) southeast of Golden . In 1864, John Galbraith arrived to prospect for gold on Wild Horse Creek but soon switched to more lucrative business opportunities. Later that year, he

98-587: A Morrissey, Fernie & Michel Railway (MF&M) baggage trolley, a CP caboose , MF&M snow plows, and two tank cars used for fuel storage. Heritage site The conservation of historical heritage depends on the legislation of local governing bodies. In some, a national authority is responsible for the management of all classified sites, while in others regional entities are in charge. According to civil law expert Estefanía Hernández Torres, whose doctoral thesis deals with historical heritage and property registration, "the protection of historical heritage

147-498: A general store and ice cream parlour. In 1899, W.A. Prest established a photo studio. In 1900, the men's club built their own clubhouse, and the opera house became the Masonic Lodge. By 1901, businesses were relocating to Cranbrook or Fernie . Cranbrook acquired the government offices in 1904 and the newspaper in 1905. The town was unable to meet the cost of filling the water tank. Lacking this fire protection resource, most of

196-874: A great influence on local, national or international history and folklore. These houses are usually preserved in their original state (when the people in question still lived in them), preserving their furniture, belongings, decorative elements and work tools. Some examples are the Salvador Dalí House Museum in Portlligat, Spain , the Freud museum houses in various European cities, or the Ben-Yehuda House in Jerusalem, Israel . According to Joaquin Saúl García, Professor of Geography at

245-462: A key part of his Joseph's Prairie holdings to Colonel James Baker in 1885. The B.C. Southern was a Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) subsidiary. In constructing westward from the Crowsnest Pass , many assumed that Fort Steele, the only suitable place of any substance, would be the divisional point . The simple story was that Colonel James Baker willingly gave CP every second townsite lot and

294-568: A map with a description of the place for visitor orientation. A World Heritage Site is a historic site with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). As of June 2023, a total of 1,157 World Heritage Sites (900 cultural, 218 natural, and 39 mixed properties) exist across 167 countries . World Heritage Sites often attract large amounts of visitors. The most visited sites are

343-655: A more productive portion of the Crowsnest Coal Field. Kaiser Resources opened immense open-pit mines there in the 1970s to meet new metallurgical coal contracts for the Asian industrial market, predominantly for use in blast furnaces . Fernie would remain an important residential base for mine labour, along with the new communities of Sparwood and Elkford that sprang up much closer to these new mines. Today, Teck Resources operates four open-pit mines, shipping out unit trains (often with more than 100 cars) along

392-468: A ranch from 1867. Horses could ford the river about 370 metres (1,200 ft) downstream from the ferry, which crossed by the mouth of the St. Mary River. The ferry charter was renewed in 1871, 1876, 1880, and 1882. The ferry could carry livestock, but did not appear to have the capacity for a wagon. The annual ferry licence, which was initially $ 500, was lowered to $ 200 by 1867, because most miners had abandoned

441-403: A second, larger inferno swept through the city on August 1, 1908. Whipped up by sudden winds, a nearby forest fire burnt its way into a lumber yard on the edge of the community and sparked a Dresden-style firestorm that melted brick and mortar and essentially erased the entire city in an afternoon. There were few casualties however and for a second time, a stately brick downtown core rose from

490-644: Is fully encircled by the Rocky Mountains . The townsite was laid out in the crook of a doglegged glacial valley that today is drained by the Elk River . Three tributaries of the Elk— Coal , Lizard , and Fairy Creeks—rise in its side valleys and join the Elk either within or in close proximity to the townsite. To the north of the city lie Mount Fernie , Mount Klauer, The Three Sisters and Mount Proctor . To

539-473: Is one of the main concerns of civilized societies. The assets that make up the cultural legacy are deserving of protection as they constitute a way of accessing culture".  However, according to Hernández, protection can be complicated, especially in the case of property purchase or transfer since its protected status is sometimes unknown to its new owners. The registries prepared by the different governments and international organizations (such as UNESCO or

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588-476: The 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada , Fernie had a population of 6,320 living in 2,597 of its 3,256 total private dwellings, a change of 17.1% from its 2016 population of 5,396. With a land area of 15.11 km (5.83 sq mi), it had a population density of 418.3/km (1,083.3/sq mi) in 2021. According to the 2021 census , religious groups in Fernie included: Fernie has

637-597: The Canadian Pacific Railway through Fernie to the Pacific Coast, where the coal is loaded onto freighters at Roberts Bank Superport in Delta . The Flathead Valley avalanches were two avalanches that buried 11 snowmobilers near Fernie on December 28, 2008. The avalanches ultimately claimed the lives of eight of the riders. After a disastrous fire levelled much of the downtown core in 1904,

686-485: The Crowsnest Pass a few years earlier, Fernie founded the Crows Nest Pass Coal Company in 1897 and established a temporary encampment near Coal Creek . The Canadian Pacific Railway arrived in the valley the following year, and a townsite emerged parallel to the railway line slightly north of the initial encampment, or "Old Town." On May 23, 1902, a coal mine explosion killed 109 miners at

735-553: The Elk River was completed, providing a link with Montana . By the late 1890s, two riverboat companies served the Jennings, Montana–Fort Steele run. From 1898, a jitney service connected with the Eager train station. The highway, which followed Main St, was diverted to the present position in 1965. In 1864, the population numbered over 3,000, but five years later, few remained, except the numerous mosquitos in summer. By July 1888,

784-540: The Elk River , along Canada 's southernmost east-west transportation corridor through the Rockies that crosses the range via the Crowsnest Pass , 40 kilometres (25 miles) to the east. As the largest and longest-established community between Cranbrook and Lethbridge , Fernie serves as a minor regional centre, particularly for its fellow Elk Valley communities. Fernie is the only city-class municipality in Canada that

833-483: The European Union ) are usually developed within the framework of very detailed legislation, which contemplates the relations between public authorities, conservation entities (institutional or private), the owners of the properties (in the cases of private property) and citizen collaboration. Beyond the historical and factual data, there are also observations on the historical, cultural or artistic significance of

882-751: The Forbidden City , China , with 14 million annual visitors, Gulangyu , China, with 12.4 million annual visitors, and the Great Smoky Mountains , United States , with 11 million annual visitors. In the United States , the National Register of Historic Places keeps track of over 90,000 sites of significance. Roughly three percent, or about 2,600, are formally recognized as National Historic Landmarks (NHLs) , with New York , Massachusetts , and Pennsylvania featuring

931-668: The Ghostriders ' regular season. Because of this tragedy, the City of Fernie declared a state of emergency and people had to evacuate the area for days. The 'Riders were relocated because of this to the Elk Valley Leisure Centre in Sparwood, British Columbia during the 2017–18 KIJHL season until the City of Fernie decided what to do. The City of Fernie decided to replace ammonia for a synthetic refrigerant prior to

980-536: The University of Castilla-La Mancha in Spain , "in recent years, cultural heritage has become the foundation of a tourist trend — cultural tourism — that, despite its long history documented in the well-known travel books from the 18th and 19th centuries, it wasn't until the end of the 20th century that it appeared as a way of traveling where the objective is knowledge of culture and diversity ...". García affirms that

1029-843: The 2018–19 KIJHL season and moved the team back to the Fernie Memorial Arena. The following people were born, raised in or reside in Fernie: Rogers Communications operates a cable system serving Fernie. The cable system offers most major channels from Vancouver and Calgary , as well as local programming on Rogers TV channel 10. School District 5 Southeast Kootenay operates the following public schools in Fernie: The Conseil scolaire francophone de la Colombie-Britannique operates one Francophone school: école Sophie-Morigeau primary school. Private schools: Post-secondary: In

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1078-493: The City Bakery. During summer, steam train rides are offered on a 2.5-mile (4 km) return journey, with a short stop at the "St. Mary's look-out". The locomotive fleet is the following: Other rolling stock includes three flat cars (two of which that have been modified for use as open air passenger cars), a British Rail Mark 1 , a small parlour car (originally used as the main car but retired due to interior damage),

1127-517: The Crow's Nest Coal Mining Company. The disaster, one of the worst mining accidents in Canadian history, is largely forgotten in Fernie and overlooked by local historians after more than a century. During World War One, an internment camp for prisoners of war was set up at rented premises in Fernie from June 1915 to October 1918. Underground coal mines were dug 10 kilometres (6.2 miles) away from

1176-640: The Interior , before being officially registered. About 179 countries have a system of registering historic sites, whether for notation, preservation, or both. In addition, some regions such as Europe and the Caribbean have historic registries spanning multiple countries. Fernie, British Columbia Fernie is a city in the Elk Valley area of the East Kootenay region of southeastern British Columbia , Canada, located on BC Highway 3 on

1225-461: The NWMP had been reassigned to Fort Macleod and the detachment buildings abandoned. The settlers, who numbered about 11 Caucasians and 60 Chinese, occupied the few buildings by the river. Chas. Clark was the inaugural postmaster from 1888 to 1897. In 1892, the commercial centre comprised the government buildings, a hotel, and two stores. In 1894, the townsite was surveyed, Miss Adelaide Bailey became

1274-484: The ashes. Today, these historic buildings, most of which still stand, are a treasured and distinctive feature of the community. Summer in Fernie is generally far quieter than the winter months, though mountain biking , fly fishing and golf are increasingly important tourist draws. On October 17, 2017, there was an ammonia leak at the Fernie Memorial Arena which killed three workers (two City of Fernie employees and one CIMCO refrigeration employee from Calgary) during

1323-502: The burgeoning industry. Forestry played a smaller role in the local economy and a local brewery produced Fernie Beer from Brewery Creek (mountain spring water). Like most single-industry towns, Fernie endured several boom-and-bust cycles throughout the twentieth century, generally tied to the global price of coal. The mines at Coal Creek closed permanently by 1960 and the focus of mining activity shifted to Michel and Natal about twenty-five kilometres (16 miles) upriver, which sat on

1372-528: The business section burned to the ground in the December 1906 blaze. The town soldiered on for decades. The hospital, now a private residence, likely experienced a brief existence beyond the death of Dr. Hugh Watt in 1914. The school closed in 1954, the Windsor Hotel in 1958, the general store in 1961, and the post office in 1997. Robert Galbraith, who owned much of the land around Fort Steele, sold

1421-687: The corresponding conservation entity. In other cases, when it comes to private property in the possession of an individual prior to its classification, the conservation and rehabilitation tasks, or at least their financing, fall to public authorities and conservation entities. In almost all cases, reform and renovation works on the property (both internal and external) that are not part of the rehabilitation and recovery of historical elements are strictly prohibited. Historical heritage has important social significance and function. House museums are common, being former homes of famous people (artists, pioneers, soldiers, politicians, businessmen, etc.) who have exerted

1470-402: The creek for brighter prospects. In 1874, Robert Galbraith took over the operation, which continued until replaced in 1888 by a lift span bridge . The 1894 flood destroyed this 140-metre (450 ft) structure, which was superseded by Howe truss approaches and an opening span. The 1909 bridge had three spans, the western one being a Howe truss. The 1934 bridge comprised three Howe trusses. When

1519-469: The few windows. Four constables did not survive the typhoid that struck the contingent. In 1888, the community adopted the rename of Fort Steele. Early supplies came in by pack train from Walla Walla, Washington . A wagon road northward to Canal Flats opened in 1886. In summertime, the Golden–Fort Steele passenger service encompassed riverboat, tramway and stage modes. In 1895, a wagon road to

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1568-402: The fledgling municipal government passed an ordinance requiring all buildings in the area to be built of 'fireproof' materials like brick and stone. Consequently, a new city centre rose from the ashes sporting brick buildings along broad avenues that would have looked more at home in a sedate and refined Victorian city than a rough-and-tumble frontier coal town . They were short-lived, however, as

1617-469: The ground floor were three cells and a courtroom, while upstairs were several offices. Also opened were a hospital, opera house (which soon became a men's club), and a Roman Catholic church. Across the river, warehouses and a bottling plant sprang up. Several new business premises were added to the town, which joined the US telegraph network. A Board of Trade was established. During the first six months of that year,

1666-451: The highway was realigned in 1966, a concrete span was chosen. Once the crossing became known as Galbraith's Ferry , the place assumed the same name. In 1887, Superintendent Sam Steele arrived with a detachment of the NWMP to defuse tensions between settlers and local First Nations . No actual fort existed, but the police compound, erected that year, had the appearance of a fort, because of

1715-607: The inaugural teacher, and two hotels were erected. By 1895, Fort Steele was developing into a mining centre. That year, a mining association formed, and the Prospector , the local newspaper, was founded. The infrastructure included two general stores, three hotels, and a sawmill. In 1897, an annex was added to the Dalgardno Hotel, five further hotels were opened, and the Government Building was erected. On

1764-618: The most NHLs. The U.S. National Park Service runs historic site preservation under the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 . Each state government has a State Historic Preservation Office to oversee NHL upkeep and review applications for new ones. In addition, all sites must first be approved by the National Park Service and its special advisory board, as well as the Secretary of

1813-572: The northeast is Mount Hosmer , to the east is Fernie Ridge, to the southeast is Morrissey Ridge and to the southwest are the various peaks of the Lizard Range . Fernie gives the name to the Jurassic -Age Fernie Formation . The Lizard Range is home to Fernie Alpine Resort , one of the largest ski resorts in Canada, and Island Lake Catskiing , a resort. While the slopes of the mountains are

1862-426: The population grew from about 300 to 3,000. In 1898, a 91,000-litre; 24,000-US-gallon (20,000 imp gal) water tank was placed atop a 15-metre (50 ft) tower, water mains were installed, a volunteer fire department was founded, and a Presbyterian church erected. When the railway bypassed the town, the exodus of residents began. The Anglicans bought a surplus school building for a church. Henry Kershaw opened

1911-418: The present focus of economic activity, until comparatively recently residents of the area were more interested in the mountains' innards. The vast Crowsnest Coal Field lies just to the east of the city, and Fernie owes its origins to nineteenth-century prospector William Fernie, who established the coal industry that continues to exist to this day. Acting on pioneer Michael Phillips' twin discoveries of coal and

1960-590: The railway track crossed the Kootenay River at Wardner , bypassing Fort Steele on the way to Cranbrook. The Kootenay Central Railway (KCR) was a CP subsidiary. The northward advance of the rail head from Colvalli was near Fort Steele in August 1914. That November, the last spike was driven near the north end of Columbia Lake . Through train service commenced in January 1915. In 1931, the twice weekly service

2009-466: The railyard land from his Joseph's Prairie property, knowing he would profit from the development of Cranbrook. Robert Galbraith refused to make a similar concession for a line passing though Fort Steele. The deeper story is that a syndicate, which included Baker and Galbraith, acquired land from them at both locations. By the mid-1890s, the public believed the railway would pass through each location, which increased buyer demand for subdivision lots. In 1898,

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2058-487: The region, a selection of early machinery, and railway artifacts. Actors wander the town in period costumes. The Wildhorse Theatre stages live productions. Visitors can have their images captured in old-time brownish tones at the photo studio, practise gold panning , take horse-drawn rides, and watch demonstrations, such as blacksmithing . Meals are available in the International Hotel restaurant and snacks at

2107-402: The relationship between heritage and tourism is currently very close, which contributes a great extent to the conservation of historical sites through revenue and in sustainable development. Historic sites and heritage sites are often maintained for members of the public to be able to visit, with some offering tours or running visitors' centers. Historic buildings and spaces also often include

2156-593: The site to be a historic park. In 1981, the government released a concept plan. In 1972, the Queen , Prince Phillip , and Princess Anne visited the park. In 2004, the non-profit Friends of Fort Steele Society took over full management. Authentic Fort Steele buildings, some of which were moved to within the present site, include the schoolhouse, two churches, the Opera House, and Windsor hotel. The site includes some reconstructed replicas, smaller buildings salvaged from

2205-404: The site, in addition to the cost for its use and preservation. Many historical sites can still be used by their owners (ex: homes, hotels, museums), even with the conditions from the site's overseeing body. Many times, these conditions are part of the purchase or rental contract, and their fulfillment is essential to be able to keep the property. One such condition may be periodic control visits by

2254-459: The townsite in the narrow Coal Creek valley and until 1960 a small satellite community was known as Coal Creek stood adjacent to them. A variety of other mines were sunk into the coal fields in a fifty-kilometre (31 mi) radius in the following two decades. No mining was ever carried out in Fernie proper; coking of Coal Creek coal was carried out at the townsite, but otherwise, the town developed into an administrative and commercial centre for

2303-591: The western approaches to the Crowsnest Pass through the Rocky Mountains . Founded in 1898 and incorporated as the City of Fernie in July 1904, the municipality has a population of over 5,000 with an additional 2,000 outside city limits in communities under the jurisdiction of the Regional District of East Kootenay . A substantial seasonal population swells the city during the winter months. Fernie lies on

2352-535: Was granted a charter for a toll ferry across the Kootenay River, commencing in the new year. John also established a general store, which with the ferry, greatly profited from the early goldfield traffic to the Fisherville mining camp. He sent for two of his brothers and his two sisters with their families. Marrying Sarah Larue, John, and his brother Robert Galbraith (known as R.L.T.), purchased land at Joseph's Prairie (later called Cranbrook ), where John operated

2401-697: Was reduced to once weekly. In the early 1970s, the creation of the Lake Koocanusa reservoir behind the Libby Dam necessitated the removal of the Wardner bridge and rerouting the respective track across the Kootenay on the replacement rail bridge built in 1970 at Fort Steele. Being the first NWMP post in BC, Fort Steele was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1925. In 1961, the province acquired

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