Fifty-one years ago, the Howe Sound Mining Company closed the copper mine they had operated for 20 years in Copper Mountain. The Holden Mine was named after J H Holden, the man who discovered the mineral vein in the mountain in 1896. The Mining Company built the town of Holden Village in the 1930's and began mining copper here in 1937.
This past week, sixty-six of the miners and their families celebrated the 50th anniversary of the closing of the mine. Of course, if you do the math you will discover that this was actually the 51st anniversary. The 50th anniversary was originally scheduled for last year, 2007, but because the village had been evacuated due to a forest fire, the reunion had to be canceled. It was rescheduled and was held this year and they called it Golden Holden Olden, take 2. Many of the original miners are dead now or their health prevents them from traveling, but some of them were able to attend, along with some of the wives and many of the now 50 and 60-somethings who lived here as children as well as some of their children and grandchildren who never lived here, but have heard stories from their parents and grandparents about life here. They had some very wonderful memories of those days. It was fun to watch their slides of and see how the town looked then. Of course we are using the very same buildings today that were built back in the 1930's by the mining company. And down the road, in what was called Winston Camp, there are still remnants of the stone walls and steps the led to the over 100 homes built by the miners for their families. When the mine closed and everyone left, the homes there went to ruin and in the early 1960's the Forest Service had to burn them down as they had become a forest fire hazard.
In 1961 the Howe Sound Mining Company gave Holden Village to the Lutheran Bible Institute in Seattle. It eventually became it's own corporate entity and the story continues with the history of Holden Village as a retreat center.
Watching them this week and hearing their stories of the early mining days was so interesting. I enjoy hearing about the history of this place. I picture the life here then, which is not so different that the one now, except, of course, it was a lot noisier then with the mine in operation and the ore trucks moving up and down the road. Now we have peace and quiet and much stillness in this valley (usually).
One of the main organizers of this event is Linda Jensen, who lived here as a child. Linda continues to publish "The Miner," the town's newspaper and mails it to the former residents. She comes to Holden several times a year and is one of the main curators of the museum here that depicts the history of both the mining days and the retreat center days. She puts in many hours every year working on keeping the history alive. During the summer she also presents programs about the mining days to guests in the village. (For more on Linda, see my July 4th entry). I just admire her work here so much and she has become a good friend of mine.
It is quite a legacy that these miners and their families have left in this valley. I, for one, am very touched by their continued interest in this place and admire their memories and the fact that they still get together to share those memories after all this time.
This past week, sixty-six of the miners and their families celebrated the 50th anniversary of the closing of the mine. Of course, if you do the math you will discover that this was actually the 51st anniversary. The 50th anniversary was originally scheduled for last year, 2007, but because the village had been evacuated due to a forest fire, the reunion had to be canceled. It was rescheduled and was held this year and they called it Golden Holden Olden, take 2. Many of the original miners are dead now or their health prevents them from traveling, but some of them were able to attend, along with some of the wives and many of the now 50 and 60-somethings who lived here as children as well as some of their children and grandchildren who never lived here, but have heard stories from their parents and grandparents about life here. They had some very wonderful memories of those days. It was fun to watch their slides of and see how the town looked then. Of course we are using the very same buildings today that were built back in the 1930's by the mining company. And down the road, in what was called Winston Camp, there are still remnants of the stone walls and steps the led to the over 100 homes built by the miners for their families. When the mine closed and everyone left, the homes there went to ruin and in the early 1960's the Forest Service had to burn them down as they had become a forest fire hazard.
In 1961 the Howe Sound Mining Company gave Holden Village to the Lutheran Bible Institute in Seattle. It eventually became it's own corporate entity and the story continues with the history of Holden Village as a retreat center.
Watching them this week and hearing their stories of the early mining days was so interesting. I enjoy hearing about the history of this place. I picture the life here then, which is not so different that the one now, except, of course, it was a lot noisier then with the mine in operation and the ore trucks moving up and down the road. Now we have peace and quiet and much stillness in this valley (usually).
One of the main organizers of this event is Linda Jensen, who lived here as a child. Linda continues to publish "The Miner," the town's newspaper and mails it to the former residents. She comes to Holden several times a year and is one of the main curators of the museum here that depicts the history of both the mining days and the retreat center days. She puts in many hours every year working on keeping the history alive. During the summer she also presents programs about the mining days to guests in the village. (For more on Linda, see my July 4th entry). I just admire her work here so much and she has become a good friend of mine.
It is quite a legacy that these miners and their families have left in this valley. I, for one, am very touched by their continued interest in this place and admire their memories and the fact that they still get together to share those memories after all this time.
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