Fonds F0617 - Crowsnest Resources Ltd. fonds

The Crow's Nest Pass Coal Company was established in 1897 to develop the coal resources of the British Columbia side of the Crowsnest Pass. Several subsidiaries were created to operate ancillary activities. They included the Morrissey, Fernie and Michel Railway, and the Crows Nest Pass Electric Light and Power Company. Various mines were opened at Coal Creek, Natal, Michel and Morrissey. After the Second World War demand for coal dropped and the company diversified through a subsidiary, Crow's Nest Pass Oil and Gas Company. As the 1950s and 1960s progressed the mines were closed and the company moved into the forest products area.

Other subsidiaries acquired by the company were American Coal and Coke Company, Crows Nest Forest Products, Crows Nest Plywoods Ltd., East Kootenay Lumber Company, E.C. Letcher Lumber Company, Fernie Equipment Company, Gold Creek Timber Company, Knight Lumber Company, Kootenay and Elk Railway Company, Kootenay Coal Company, Transpacific Export Corporation (Transpac), Crow's Nest Pass Lumber Company, St. Mary's Lumber Company, and Wilson Lumber Company (Fernie) Ltd.

In 1965 the name of the company was changed to Crows Nest Industries Ltd. In 1968 the company's coal resources were sold to Kaiser Steel and the assets of Crows Nest Pass Electric Light and Power were sold to British Columbia Hydro. Another subsidiary, Transpac, was sold in 1971. A change in the demand for coal resulted in the company reacquiring some coal lands from Kaiser in 1976. In 1977 Shell Canada purchased the company and renamed it Crowsnest Resources Ltd. The company was disbanded in 1991 and its assets redistributed.