The area’s significance as a business centre goes back long before the modern town it is today – Blairmore was originally a Canadian Pacific Railway stop – known as the Tenth Siding or The Springs (for the cold sulphur spring to the east) and served as an industry focal point for the region’s growing coal mining and lumber industries.
Prior to 1907, lumber represented the town’s primary economic engine until the Greenhill mine – located just north of Blairmore – became an economic mainstay of the community after opening in 1908. Blairmorite, a rare volcanic rock of the Crowsnest Formation, is named after Blairmore.
In keeping with the region’s economic determination, Blairmore was also home to an illegally operating alcohol import business which brought in alcohol from British Columbia during Alberta’s short-lived Prohibition phase.
Today, Blairmore is home to more than 2,000 people and has a vibrant array of services, shops and cafés.
