SPARWOOD

SPARWOOD
Sparwood’s population: 3,778

Sparwood is a district municipality, situated in the Elk Valley, just west of British Columbia’s border with Alberta.

This small town is named from the area’s valued and respected wood that was once shipped and manufactured to the Coast and made into spars used for ocean vessels. In order to ship and load the harvested wood, a railway stop/siding was created in the late-1800s.

However, it wasn’t until the mid-1960s when the Provincial Government, as part of a urban renewal scheme, decided to build a new town to replace the old and historic coal-mining settlements and towns of Natal, Middletown and Michel which were settled in the 1890s, and relocate the residents of those towns to Sparwood. This scheme happened because these 3 towns had been blackened by coal dust and made living in them unsafe.

Sparwood officially became incorporated in 1966.

Although Natal, Middletown and Michel have since been long abandoned (Sparwood was only about 4 kilometers within the surrounding area of the 3 towns), their story lives on and is told on many of Sparwood’s downtown buildings which celebrate and depict the life and history of these towns through a series of murals. There is also a story board on the history of these towns located at the Sparwood Information Centre.

In 1968, a company by the name of Kaiser Resources Limited developed a coal mine (known as the Elkview Mine), about half of Sparwood’s residents work as an inside employee of the mine or work as one of its truckers or laborers. The coal produced at this mine (which is owned by Teck Resources), is used to make steel.

Sparwood not only relies on the coal mining industry but also relies on logging and the oil and gas industry which are also a valuable asset to the economy. The town celebrates the coal mining heritage with a special event that takes place here annually, during the second weekend in June. Known as Coal Miner Days, this family fun event has everything from crib tournaments, street markets, to slo-pitch tournaments, and even bed races and parades.

Sparwood is home to the Terex Titan, at one time the world’s largest dual-axle dump truck, a major town attraction where it draws thousands of tourists a year to stop in Sparwood and take a picture of. Formerly from Kaiser Resources’ Eagle Mountain iron mine in southern California where it carried 70,000 pounds of rock. This truck is so large (about 350 tons of payload, 260 tons of weight, 6.88 meters in height, 20.09 meters in length, 17.07 meters with the box raised and 7.57 meters in width) that 2 Greyhound buses and 2 pickup trucks can fit on the back of it, all at the same time. Sparwood bought the truck in 1996 for only a dollar. This tourist attraction is located at the property of the Sparwood Tourist Information Center.

In terms of population size, Sparwood is the second-largest community in the Elk River Valley after Fernie. It is one of the province’s youngest and newest incorporated communities. It is however, older than Elkford, a town of about 2,500 people, located just north of Sparwood on Highway #43 as that town has been around only since 1971.

Sparwood's business center is situated along 3 main streets (Red Cedar Drive, Aspen Drive and Centennial Square). Business along these streets include a shopping center, drug stores, gas station, restaurants, tourist information center and a couple of motels.

Because of its location high in the mountains, the precipitation accumulations in Sparwood are more higher than other locations in the Rocky Mountain Trench such as Cranbrook. Summer temperatures in Sparwood tend to average around 23 degrees Celcius, but be prepared for cooler nights especially during late Summer. From November to April, winter temperatures hover around the -5 to -10 range, but can be colder depending on how cold the winter months are. Also during this time of year, be prepared for harsh driving conditions especially the Crowsnest Highway (Highway #3) from here to the British Columbia/Alberta border, where blowing snow and limited visibility are common.

Sparwood is a sister city to Kamisunagawa, a city of about 4,200 people, located in Japan, on the island and prefecture of Hokkaido, the northernmost and largest of Japan's 47 prefectures.

view of Sparwood

downtown Sparwood