Lille, ghost town in Alberta
Lille is a ghost town in the Rocky Mountains that today shows only ruins and old foundations. The settlement was built around 1901 to house coal workers and their families, and once had about 80 buildings including homes, shops, a school, and a hospital.
The settlement began around 1901 when French businessmen discovered coal deposits and built a mining community. The mines closed in 1912 due to falling coal prices and declining quality, leading to the town's rapid decline.
The name Lille comes from the French city of the same name, reflecting the company owners' origins. Today, the site still shows this European connection through the numbered Belgian bricks of the coke ovens, which were carefully reassembled piece by piece.
Access to Lille is through hiking routes from the nearby Frank Slide Interpretive Centre, about 6 miles away, or from Grassy Mountain Road. The walk is quiet and manageable but passes through rough mountainous terrain and should be attempted in good weather.
The coke ovens were imported from Belgium with numbers carved into each brick so they could be reassembled exactly. These Belgian brick structures are among the few of their kind in all of Canada and show the careful international planning of the mining operations.
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