While Merritt may remain a small ranching community at heart, much of its growth can be attributed to the support of the mining industry, says Cameron Bridge, Manager of the Nicola Valley Museum & Archives.
While it has always been known that Merritt sits on land rich with natural resources such as coal and copper, Bridges says that in the beginning it was a matter of being able to access and transport it.
“It was a rather small community back in the day, largely just a ranching community. While it had always been known that the city sits on a coal bed, there wasn’t a cost effective way to extract it. For quite a while, people would just go up into the hills to get coal.”
The arrival of a railway through the City in the early 20th century sparked major economic and population growth throughout the valley, with the railway allowing for high-volume transportation of mined ores.
“A railway came through town in 1907, and that’s largely the reason why coal mines started opening up. People started coming to town to work, government offices moved her, many businesses moved to Merritt. It was becoming the population centre, and that’s how it became the heart of the Nicola Valley.”
The development Merritt experienced as a result of its newfound success was exponential, and could be seen by locals and visitors alike. After the first mines opened, other businesses followed suit. Armstrong’s General Store, which once occupied what is now the Country Music Hall of Honour, served the newly minted community.
Merritt Bottle Works, formerly located at the Baillie House information centre, began to sell sodas to the miners that now called the area home.
“It went from a tiny town of a handful of people in 1904, to all of a sudden an incorporated City within a decade.”
Bridge says that as the “oil boom” began around the 1930s, leading to a downturn in the production of coal as a power source. It wasn’t until the establishment of mines such as Craigmont in 1958 that led Merritt to become a part of BC’s push to become a large-scale producer of copper. The Valley’s history with copper goes farther back than coal.
“The first mine actually wasn’t a coal mine. It was Aberdeen Mine, which was for copper. Located to the north of Craigmont Mine, it was relatively small.”
The possible dangers of the mining industry can be seen by looking at the history it has in Merritt, including an explosion at the Diamondvale Mine, formerly located just outside City limits. The explosion occurred in March of 1912 and was caused by improper ventilation of the mineshaft, killing seven men and injuring five others.
Moving forward, the museum is focused on continuing to educate the public on the Valley’s rich and diverse history, including the lesser-known importance of mining on the foundation of our community.
“Merritt has always been a ranching community, but it does have an extensive history with mining. I’m not sure how many people seriously know that. Merritt doesn’t really seem like a mining town, but it was largely formed on the basis of mining. It became the community that it is because of mining.”
For more information on the history of Merritt and the Nicola Valley, call the museum at 250-378-4145, or visit in person at 1675 Tutill Court. Their website is also available at www.nicolavalleymuseum.org.
