Glimpses of the badlands landscape in Wayne ("Then 2490, Now 38") and East Coulee (pop. 3800 in its heyday, now about 150).
During the mid 20th century, the Drumheller Valley area was home to 139 coal mines. Now, none operate, and the last one closed in 1979, leaving behind the traces of what was once a booming, optimistic industry and a way of life. Witnessing a landscape that has been left by the circumstances of geology and shifts in economics and technology and now being supported by tourism (and paleontology), is what makes this place an intriguing one.
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| (photos: East Coulee School Museum, entrance signage at Wayne AB, abandoned wood bridge by the Atlas Coal Mine, decommissioned grain elevator in Dorothy, AB.) |
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