# Mercoal, Alberta

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**Mercoal**, a former coal mining town, is located in the [Yellowhead County](/source/Yellowhead_County) of western [Alberta](/source/Alberta), Canada. It was one of several communities along the historic [Coal Branch](/source/Coal_Branch,_Alberta) segment of the [Grand Trunk Pacific Railway](/source/Grand_Trunk_Pacific_Railway) (now part of the [Canadian National Railway](/source/Canadian_National_Railway)), which included [Embarras](/source/Embarras_Landing,_Alberta), [Robb](/source/Robb,_Alberta), [Coalspur](/source/Coalspur,_Alberta), Coal Valley, [Cadomin](/source/Cadomin,_Alberta), [Luscar](/source/Luscar,_Alberta), and [Mountain Park](/source/Mountain_Park,_Alberta). At its peak in the late 1940s and early 1950s the town had over 800 residents. Mercoal declined after the mines closed in 1959, and it is now essentially a [ghost town](/source/Ghost_town) with only a small number of summer residences remaining. It is situated on [Highway 40](/source/Alberta_Highway_40), 70 km (43 mi) southwest of [Edson](/source/Edson,_Alberta), 8 km (5 mi) west of [Coalspur](/source/Coalspur,_Alberta).

## History

Mercoal's name was an acronym for the McLeod River Hard Coal Company, co-owned by Nick Gurvich, who opened an [underground coal mine](/source/Underground_mining) in 1920. In 1924 the mine was sold to Saunders Ridge Coal Company, Ltd.[1] The Mercoal mine was the last major operator in the Coal Branch area, and it attracted workers from other Coal Branch towns after the closure of the mines at [Mountain Park](/source/Mountain_Park,_Alberta) in 1950 and [Cadomin](/source/Cadomin) in 1952. The Mercoal mine finally closed on July 17, 1959.[2]

## References

1. Toni Ross, Oh! The Coal Branch (Edmonton: Friesen, 1974), p. 59

1. Kyba, Daniel and Jane Ross (2001). *Exploring the historic Coal Branch*. Calgary, Alberta: Rocky Mountain Books, 336 p. ISBN 0-921102-83-6.

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