Anthracite, Alberta Anthracite, Alberta Anthracite is a ghost town located within Banff National Park in southern Alberta, Canada. It is named after the anthracite variety of coal. Anthracite existed from 1886 to 1904, during which time extensive coal mining operations were carried out by the Canadian Anthracite Coal Company in the surrounding Banff National Park, which is now a World Heritage Site as defined by the United Nations. The town was one of many that sprang up around the building sites of the Canadian Pacific Railway after workers accidentally stumbled upon some hot springs in nearby Banff. By 1887 the town's population
Anthracite difficulty of igniting it. This was a particular concern in smelting iron using a blast furnace. With the invention of hot blast in 1828, which used waste heat to preheat combustion air, anthracite became a preferred fuel, accounting for 45% of US pig iron production within 15 years. Anthracite for iron smelting was later displaced by coke. From the late 19th century until the 1950s, anthracite was the most popular fuel for heating homes and other buildings in the northern US, until it was supplanted by oil-burning systems and more recently natural gas systems. Many large public buildings, such as