How would Uncle Cyrus live as a coalminer?
The Blue Canyon coalminers lived either in Blue Canyon City, or in Park. There was a three-story hotel
in Blue Canyon City, where many of the unmarried miners lived. The hotel was
owned and run by a couple named Hodges. A miner who was married
lived with his family in a neat wooden house. The houses in Blue Canyon
City, had gardens with flowers and fruit
trees. Most
of the houses had three rooms, plus a lean-to for the kitchen and washroom.
In
Blue Canyon City, there was a general store and a post office run by
J.D. Custer and his brother. The mail was brought to Blue Canyon City by boat.
The coal miners’
children attended the local Blue Canyon school. The teacher came from New Whatcom by boat. After the
railroad was completed to Blue Canyon, the teacher came to Blue Canyon on a
logging flatcar. The school was open four to six months each year. The rest of
the year, the school closed while the teacher taught school in another community.
The schoolhouse also served as a church or a public meeting hall. Church was
held in the schoolhouse on Sunday mornings.
The
only transportation from Blue Canyon City to town was by 
taking a steamboat
down the lake to Silver Beach, 
and then taking the
street-car from Silver Beach to town.
Coal
miners and their families didn’t go to town very often. It took several hours to get to town. They only went if it
was for a special reason, such as a trip to the doctor or dentist, or some
other important reason.
Parents
always worried that their children might get hurt or sick. It was a 
long way from help. If
someone had a bad accident, or was gravely ill, that person might die of shock
before a doctor could be reached.
The Blue Canyon coalminers worked hard. They got out of bed
at five o’clock in the morning. They entered the mine shortly after six o’clock.
Sometimes they had to walk a mile or more underground to reach their place of
work. They worked from eight to ten hours a day in the mine.
Image
Credit: Microsoft Clip Art Gallery
Photo of the general store, post office and church were taken at the Ferndale
Pioneer Park, and are representative of the era, but not the actual Blue Canyon
City buildings to which this page refers.
Photos
of the steamboat “Ella” the streetcar, and the school are authentic and
courtesy of the Galen Biery historic collection. Permission to use these photos
on our web page was granted by the Whatcom
Museum of History and Art.