I love the town of Blairmore! I could easily live in a place like this - except I'd freeze to death in the winter - so I guess I'll always be a Vancouver Islander. Yesterday, was wedding crafts day over at Erin and Rhett's. Paulette had enough projects lined up to keep Erin, Hayley and Mikayla busy all day. Rhett had some errands to run, so I decided to take a little tour of Blairmore.
The main street of Blairmore is typical of most small towns
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| From Tour of Blairmore |
Every town needs a movie theater and Blairmore is no exception with their old, and small, Orpheum Theater on the main street.
Transformers showing tonight at 7:30pm at the Orpheum
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| From Tour of Blairmore |
A couple of typical small businesses in downtown Blairmore
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| From Tour of Blairmore |
What I did notice walking around Blairmore, and I could walk right into town from Erin and Rhett's house, is how absolutely clean this little town is and how much pride the residents seem to show in keeping their homes, businesses, churches and parks well maintained.
Grace Anglican Church is typical of many of the buildings
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| From Tour of Blairmore |
Another church in downtown Blairmore
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| From Tour of Blairmore |
Just like a lot of small western towns in Canada and the U.S., Blairmore has had it's share of colorful characters. Blairmore's most recognizable former resident was the gregarious Emilio Picariello. An immigrant from Sicily, Picariello acted as mayor of the town at the same time he operated a lucrative rum-running business. He was sentenced to hang after an infamous incident where an Alberta Provincial Police officer was shot and killed following a high-speed chase involving Picariello's son.
The Greenhill Hotel - a favorite haunt of coal miners from years ago
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| From Tour of Blairmore |
But mostly, Blairmore was a peaceful place - just a lonely Canadian Pacific Railway stop. That was until a seemingly endless supply of coal was found underneath the surrounding Rocky Mountains. The remains of the Leitch Collieries, where thousands of tons of coke were processed daily, can still be seen nearby.
An old CPR locomotive and coal car in display downtown
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| From Tour of Blairmore |
There are many beautiful old houses in Blairmore, many of which have been painstakingly restored by owners who appreciate the style and workmanship that went into building these early 20th century homes.
A beautifully restored home just a block off of main street
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| From Tour of Blairmore |
Erin and Rhett bought their very old home in Blairmore three years ago and have done a tremendous job of fixing it up. They have completely redone the inside of the house and added a beautiful new deck to on the back. They both love skiing and this gives them a nice respite from the condo they own in Calgary where they live and work. In the winter months, they spend most weekends in Blairmore and try to spend as much time as they can here in the summer.
Erin and Rhett's home in Blairmore - a lot of work has gone into this
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| From Tour of Blairmore |
The big attraction for Erin and Rhett in winter is skiing and Blairmore not only has a nice little municipal ski hill, it is very close to many large ski resorts.
Erin and Rhett can walk to this ski hill from their house
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| From Tour of Blairmore |
So, after my little tour of Blairmore and going back to our RV Park to check on things, I headed back over to see how the wedding projects were coming along. I'll post some pics of those tomorrow - they look amazingly good.
We stayed and Erin and Rhett's for a dinner of barbequed hamburgers and hot dogs. Mikayla decided to stay over with the "big kids" and sleep in a tent in the backyard with Hayley. Paulette and I scooped up Molly and Rylie and headed back to the RV Park around 9:30pm and headed straight for bed as we were pretty tired out.
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