Nordegg

In 1907, Martin Cohn (who later changed his surname to Nordegg) of the German Development Company, working with D. B. Dowling of the Geological Survey of Canada, staked claims covering coal deposits near the South Brazeau (now Blackstone), Bighorn, and North Saskatchewan rivers. At Nordegg's urging, Brazeau Collieries Ltd. was founded to exploit them, and the Canadian Northern Railway (which later became part of the Canadian National Railway) agreed to build a rail line to the northern part of the area. This led to the founding of the coal mining town of Nordegg. The coal at Nordegg is part of the Gates Formation of the Luscar Group. Of the five coal seams at Nordegg, two were mined: the No. 2 and No. 3 Seams, which averaged 7.75 feet (2 m) and 15.92 feet (5 m) thick, respectively. They were separated by about 123 feet (37 m) of rock. They dipped at an angle of 12° and were worked by underground room and pillar methods. Production peaked at in 1923, and the labor force at that time was about 800. Five small briquetting plants were added to the operation in 1937 to produce a marketable product from powdery, fine coal. Mining resumed six weeks later, and during 1942 the Nordegg mine was one of the top coal producing mines in Alberta. The town reached a maximum population of about 2,500 in the early 1940s, and a surface mining operation was added in 1946.

Nordegg has a subarctic climate (Dfc) which can be considered a subalpine climate due to its altitude with locations on the same latitude having warmer climates. Summers are mild, with a few warm days sprinkled in here and there, while winters are cold and snowy.

Nordegg recorded a population of 53 in the 1986 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada.

Most of the surface coal handling, processing and support facilities at Nordegg are still standing. They were declared a Provincial Historic Resource in 1992, and a National Historic Site of Canada in 2002. There are guided tours of the surface facilities during the summer months. Tours of the underground mine workings are not possible because most of the tunnels have collapsed. A stretch of about 16 feet (5 m) into the entrances of the No. 2 and No. 3 Mines has been restored and can be entered, but beyond that the entries are blocked. A land exchange with the Province of Alberta has stimulated redevelopment of Nordegg. A mountain acreage community, the North Nordegg Subdivision, is developing north of Highway 11, adjacent to the Shunda Creek Hostel. Clearwater County has released plans for the redevelopment of downtown Nordegg, much of it on the footprint of the original townsite.