Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

"D.C. Co" BRICK

Date Range From

1906

Date Range To

1914

Materials

FIRED CLAY

No. Pieces

1

Height

5.6

Length

20.7

Width

9.1

Description

RED/BROWN COLOURED. VARIOUS AREAS OF WHITE RESIDUE AROUND EDGES. THE TOP HAS RECTANGULAR INDENT WITH BEVELED EDGES. STAMPED IN THE INDENT IS "D.C. CO". TOP LEFT CORNERS HAVE LARGE CHIPS MISSING. VARIOUS SMALLER CHIPS THROUGHOUT.

Subjects

BUILDING COMPONENT

Historical Association

COAL MINING

INDUSTRY

History

DONOR HARRY FISHER BECAME A RESIDENT OF DIAMOND CITY, ALONG WITH HIS PARENTS, IN APPROXIMATELY 1956/57. PRIOR TO THE FAMILY’S RELOCATION TO DIAMOND CITY, THE FISHERS WERE EMIGRANTS FROM GERMANY, HAVING BEEN UPROOTED FROM THEIR HOMELAND IN POLAND/LATVIA. UPON ARRIVAL IN SOUTHERN ALBERTA, THE FISHERS LIVED IN TURIN, AB FOR A COUPLE OF YEARS WHERE THEY WORKED BEETS. HARRY STARTED SCHOOL IN DIAMOND CITY IN GRADE THREE, GRADUATING FROM PICTURE BUTTE SCHOOL IN 1962. DUE TO HIS CULTURAL/LANGUAGE CHALLENGES, HE WAS INITIALLY HELD BACK IN GRADES, BUT LATER ADVANCED QUICKLY CATCHING UP TO HIS PEERS IN GRADE EIGHT. FISHER RECALLED PLAYING AS A CHILD IN DIAMOND CITY ALONG “THE COULEE TOPS” IN THE LATE 1950S. IT WAS IN THIS AREA THAT HE CAME ACROSS LOOSE BRICKS FROM THE FACTORY, LEARNING OVER TIME ABOUT THE COMMUNITY’S MINES AND BRICK PRODUCTION. HIS PARENTS HOME, HE SAID, WAS THE OLD TRAIN STATION. THEY DUG-OUT THE FORMER BASEMENT OF THE HOTEL AND THEIR ROOT CELLAR WAS THE BASEMENT FROM THE MINE’S TIPPLE. HE RECALLED THE TIPPLE WAS TORN DOWN IN THE LATE 60S. “AS A KID” HE TOLD TECH KEVIN MACLEAN ON JANUARY 8, 2013, “WE KNEW THE BRICKS WERE THERE. THE SCHOOL WAS BUILT OF BRICK, THE LIONS, FEHRS, AND RUSSELS’ [HOMES] ALL BUILT OUT OF BRICK. I WOULD NOT BE SURPRISED IF THE BRICK WAS NOT FROM THE DIAMOND CITY COAL CO..” FISHER RECALLED BRICKS ON HIS PARENTS’ DIAMOND CITY FAMILY HOME. LATER, WHEN FISHER’S OWN FAMILY BOUGHT AN OLD HOUSE NORTH OF PARK LAKE, HE WENT BACK, COLLECTED SOME OF THE CHILDHOOD PROPERTY’S DISCARDED BRICK AND RECYCLED IT INTO A FIREPLACE HE CONSTRUCTED AS PART OF HIS NEW HOME’S ADDITION. REFERENCES TO BRICK PRODUCTION AS PART OF THE DIAMOND CITY MINE’S OPERATION CAN BE FOUND IN BOTH THE COMMUNITY’S LOCAL HISTORY BOOK “THE HISTORY OF DIAMOND CITY AND COMMERCE” AND IN ALEX JOHNSTONE’S “LETHBRIDGE COAL INDUSTRY.” THE “D.C. CO.” MARKING ALIGNS WITH THE YEARS 1906 TO 1914 WHEN THE COMMUNITY MINE WAS OPERATED UNDER THE NAME “DIAMOND COAL CO. LTD.” FURTHER, JOHNSTONE WROTE IN HIS 1989 BOOK THAT TEST HOLDS DUG IN DIAMOND CITY IN 1905, “FOUND INDICATIONS OF IRON ORE, VAST QUANTITIES OF BUILDING STONE AND REMARKABLY GOOD QUALITY BRICK EARTH.” FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE SEE PERMANENT FILE.

Catalogue Number

P20120034000

Acquisition Date

2012-09

Collection

Museum

Less detail