Michel was built in the late 19th century as a company town to house workers for the CrowsNest Pass Coal Company. Middletown and Natal grew up later, with residents able to own their own homes. With the towns in close proximity to the mines and coking ovens, coal dust was a fact of life in town. Sparwood started to appear in the late 1930s as housing for the company bosses, as it was upwind of the mines and coking ovens and cleaner. Gradually more and more people moved to Sparwood as the various coal mining operations expanded into land that had once been part of town. Eventually, in 1964, the government mandated the relocation of the residents of Michel and Natal, and despite resistance from some residents, the relocation was completed by the late 70s. The towns were dismantled gradually, with homes being demolished as the families left.
Coal mining in Michel began in 1899, producing steam coal for the railway as well as metallurgical coal which was coked in coking ovens. Underground coal mining was a dangerous business in the early 20th century, and many men were killed or injured on the job. Mining was gradually mechanized through the latter half of the 20th century, and today all of the coal mining in the area is above ground open-pit mining.
This particular location was once the site of the Michel Hotel, the last of the buildings of Michel to be demolished, in 2010. Please take some time to read the informational signs here.