Wardner BC Mill Powerhouse

All that’s left is a concrete shell, remains connecting back to a huge lumber mill that once operated on this property long ago. We’re looking at the Powerhouse Building put in by the Crowsnest Pass Lumber Company here in Wardner British Columbia, about a century ago. Considered too expensive to demolish when the plant closed and was torn down, it was simply left behind and now sits here alone and empty along a side road in town, a strange curiosity to passers-by. “What in the world is this odd fortress of a building?”

Wardner goes back to the 1890s, the town being founded sort of concurrent with the arrival of the CPR’s “Southern Mainline” then being built in from the east. This line was the very lifeblood responsible for the area being opened up. In came the people and out went timber and mineral resources. This stretch of track ran from Medicine Hat in eastern Alberta, eventually finding its way to the west coast via a most circuitous route.

The eastern half of the “Crowsnest Route” is still in place but the trains no longer visit Wardner. With the completion of the Libby Dam in Montana, the route through here was severed by the formation of Lake Koocanusa (KOOtenays, the name for the local area – CANada – USA), a new line being put in bypassing the town some clicks to the north. But it didn’t matter, as by the 1970s when this happened, there was no business for the railway here anyway. The overgrown roadbed can be found in behind the Powerhouse. If you look close, you can make it out. The highway was also rerouted around the newly formed lake and now Wardner is a quiet little backwater.

The town, in the early days boomed, as was almost always the case when the railway arrived. Hundreds and hundreds called it home back then. Now it’s a pastoral community, with a few dozen homes scattered about. Come summer weekends it’s can get busy with campers and anglers dropping by, but otherwise it’s pretty quiet. And it seems forgotten, what with the world zipping past on the highway north of town and not giving it a second thought. It’s doubtful many realize Wardner even exists. Such is the life off the main grid.

The Crow’s Nest Pass Lumber Company was founded in the early years of the Twentieth Century. A mill was soon built in Wardner and cutting permits acquired. The hills around were a goldmine, dense woods covering most of them. Logs arrived by river. Later it was trucks.

In about 1913 a fire hit the CNPLC Mill, taking out the powerhouse and some other structures here. Fire was a constant hazard in these old mills. The powerhouse, being a potential source of fire (in fact it’s where this one started) was rebuilt, but instead of being wood, it was made of fireproof concrete.

It’s not explicitly said how the building was laid out. Presumably there was a steam plant, likely fuelled by sawdust, wood cut-offs and waste coming in from the mill, that then powered the generators being acted upon by a turbine. Until we confirm though, file this under “we’re not 100% certain”.

A big fire at the plant, then a huge forest fire laying waste to the woods in the area soon after, and depressed markets causes the Mill to close at the dawn of the Great Depression (1930 or 1931 are both given). And so it sat for a time, intact but mothballed. With markets improving with onset of World War Two, it sprang back to life, operating sometimes intermittently, first under continued CNPLC ownership, then later others until about 1963, when the operation was abandoned and dismantled. Everything was then removed, save for the concrete walls seen.

It’s not clear if the Powerhouse was in use to the end or if they pulled from the electrical grid in later years (as was sort of hinted at). Further, it’s suggested the plant may have supplied excess electricity to the town of Wardner at times but no dates are given. A couple small mysteries here.

And now here in 2018, the Powerhouse Building has been empty for close on fifty five years. But given it’s made of concrete, it’s not going anywhere.

As would be expected, the imposing structure is a magnet for bored youth. Inside are all the trappings – empty beer cans tell a story – they come here to smoke – along with the usual smattering of graffiti found in its walls. It’s a hang out. We used to seek out abandoned buildings for fun and games when I was younger too.

Inside the building are a number of mounting pads for machinery. And here and there, odd bit of metal can be found, anchor bolts, chains embedded in the walls. But mostly it’s emptiness – everything removed and all of it presumably sold for scrap when the mill finally closed for good. The roof seems to have been made of wood and has either since rotted away or was salvaged, or perhaps removed so equipment could more easily be taken out by crane once no longer needed. Who knows?

Nature is making inroads and sorta protected by the towering walls from biting winds, shrubs and saplings have taken root and thrived. A chokecherry tree is bright with red berries. Little birds fly about and perhaps some of them call the building home. Footsteps echo and the wind is heard through gaping holes that once held windows. The streets of Wardner are silent, the Powerhouse is silent. The place is ours, even if we were here for but a fleeting few moments, then we’re gone. We’re on the road with many subjects yet to cover this trip. We’re never without something to do.

We’d love to come back and explore Wardner more. The old highway and rail line remains into the lake look compelling and can even be seen if water levels (which can vary a lot) are not too high.

More concrete shells…
Concrete Monolith – a most amazing structure.
Hosmer Mines Ltd., Hosmer BC.
Lumberton Ghost Town – now on private property – please photograph from the road.

If you wish more information on what you’ve seen here, by all means contact us!

Date: July, 2018.
Location: Wardner, BC.
Article references and thanks: Donald Malcolm Wilson @ Crowsnest-Highway.ca, BC Archives.

If you visit the Wardner Mill Powerhouse, be careful and please show the site respect.

In Wardner BC, this old shell of a building.

It was part of the Crowsnest Pass Lumber Co. Mill once located here.

It’s been standing for about a century.

The building may have been in use till the 1960s.

It was a huge operation but this is all that remains.

It’s a hang out for local youth.

It’s was made in concrete to be fire proof.

Mr Green.

Odd bits of metal can be found here and there.

A mounting pad for machinery.

Growing inside, these Chokecherries.