History of Lethbridge

The modern history of Lethbridge extends to the mid-19th century, when the area was developed from

After the

By the 1870s, Nicholas Sheran (an American entrepreneur) mined a coal seam in the coulees on the west side of what is now the Oldman River. He sold what he mined to Montana traders and the NWMP.^[2][9]

Sir Alexander Tilloch Galt was interested in the success Sheran was having. He knew a transcontinental railway was soon to be built in the area,^[10] and the settlers it would bring would create a profitable market for the coal.^[2][9]

On 13 October 1882, Galt's company North Western Coal and Navigation Company opened the first drift mine^[11][12] across from Sheran's operation. This mine was managed by William Stafford.^[2] The first president and largest shareholder of the company, William Lethbridge, was the one after whom the town was named.

By the start of the 20th century, the mines employed about 150 men and produced about 300 tonnes of coal each day.^[2] By the time production peaked during World War I, 10 mines employed 2,000 miners and produced 1 million tonnes of coal annually. At the time, Lethbridge area collieries were the largest coal producers in the Northwest Territories.^[13]

After the war, an increase in oil and natural gas production caused a decline in coal production,^[2] and the last mine in Lethbridge closed in 1957. Some of this mine, Galt No. 8, still stands today, and a local society is attempting to renovate it as a museum or interpretive centre.

The first

On 25 December 1907, an altercation occurred at the Dallas Hotel (now the Coalbanks Inn) on 5 Street South in downtown Lethbridge. Reportedly, the altercation was between a Chinese employee working the hotel's restaurant and a Caucasian customer.

Word of the altercation spread and somehow escalated into rumours the employee had killed the customer. As a result, a large crowd gathered at the hotel and ransacked the restaurant. Shortly after, they moved to nearby Chinatown to wreak havoc there.

At this point, the local police gathered to control the situation and

After the CPR moved the divisional point of its Crowsnest Line from Fort Macleod to Lethbridge in 1905, the city became a regional centre for Southern Alberta; something the region did not have previously.^[2] Between 1907 and 1913, a development boom occurred in Lethbridge, making it the main marketing, distribution and service centre in southern Alberta.^[2] Several municipal projects, a construction boom, and rising real estate prices transformed the mining town into a significant city.^[2]

Part of the impetus behind the municipal projects above was the city playing host to the 7th International Dry-Farming Congress in 1912. As recently as 1911, the city had no facilities to host an event of this significance. By the time the event arrived in October, the city had spent $1.35 million paving

Before settlement, the area where Lethbridge is located was known as The

• Blackfoot
  • Aksaysim, also transliterated as Aksiiksahko or Steep Banks
  • Mek-kio-towaghs, also Miiksskoowa, variously translated as Painted Rock, Red Painted Rock, or Medicine Stone
  • Assini-etomochi, also Asinaawaiitomottsaawa, or Where We Slaughtered the Crees
  • Sik-ooh-kotok, Black/Rocks or Coal
• Sarcee
  • Chadish-kashi, Black/Rocks
• Cree
  • Kuskusukisay-guni, Black/Rocks
• Stony
  • Ipubin-saba-akabin, or Digging Coal
• English
  • Coal Banks
  • Sherans, or Sheran's Ferry
  • The Crossing
  • The Colliery
  • Newlethbridge
  • Lethbridge Colliery
  • Upper and Lower Town
  • Coalhurst
  • Riverside

Since October 15, 1885, the name Lethbridge has been the official term.^[14] The name Lethbridge was in common unofficial use for the river bottom community at least as early as May 1884.

• History of Alberta