Nordegg is a small coal-mining hamlet between Banff National park and Jasper National Park. Nordegg was created in the early 1900s, a few years after German immigrant and entrepreneur Martin Nordegg initiated the first coal mining operations in the area. In the 1920s, the Nordegg mine became one of the most productive coal mines in Alberta producing an average of 1000 tons a day. The demand for Nordegg coal fluctuated over the years. During the early years of Nordegg, the Canadian Railways were the biggest customers for the Nordegg coal mine. The demand for coal witnessed a significant decline in the 1930s during the great depression, then had a sharp increase after the beginning of World War II. That increase led the Nordegg coal company to invest in newer and more efficient mining equipment in the late 1940s, putting the company in a great deal of debt. However, the new investment did not have the influence that they had hoped for, especially after the Canadian Railways switched to diesel-powered locomotives in the early 1950s which resulted in a great decline in production until a complete shutdown of the mine site in 1955. 

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The town of Nordegg was home to around 900 miners with their families, bringing the total town population to over 3000 people. In the early 1930s, the Nordegg townsite expanded to include hotels, stores, a school, one of the most advanced hospitals in Alberta at the time, and even a “red light” district for a brief period. During the flourishing years of Nordegg, the town suffered some tragic events such as the mine explosion on Halloween day 1941. As the day started just like any other Halloween with the town getting ready to celebrate, children preparing for trick or treating, and adults planning for their evening dance in one of the hotels. A couple of miners were doing a routine controlled explosion to loosen coal. However, that routine turned sour after one of the blasts released a deadly methane mixture that resulted in a cave-in in one of the tunnels and a much bigger explosion that claimed the lives of 29 coal miners. The mine whistle screeched, putting the entire town on edge as most people had fathers, husbands, brothers, or friends working at the mine, and the whistle meant that a terrible thing had happened. Kids were released from school early, and miners and other rescue teams headed to the mine site to retrieve the bodies of their loved ones from under the rubble. The hotel hall that was supposed to host the Halloween dance turned into a temporary morgue housing the corps of the miners so families could come and identify their departing loved ones.

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After the mine closure in 1955, most of the Nordegg residents packed and left the townsite as it is. In the early 1960s, Nordegg turned into a minimum-security penitentiary where the prisoners lived in the old miners’ boarding houses. Two decades later, the Alberta government contracted a cement company to level the mine site to the ground and turn it into a cement plant. However, a group of former Nordegg residents initiated the Nordegg Historical Society to document and preserve the history of the town and the mine site. The Nordegg Historical Society successfully persuaded the government to spare the mine site from complete demolition and in the following years, the Society managed to get Nordegg a provincial and National historic status and raise funds for major restoration. Nordegg is one of the rare success stories of abandoned communities that manage to preserve their history and get national recognition. Nordegg is relatively a touristy spot with a museum and guided tours of the town and the mine site.