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Union was the original name for Cumberland, the mining town founded by the Union Coal Company in 1870. The name was changed the following year when coal was discovered and mine-owner Robert Dunsmuir brought over miners from the coal-mining county of Cumberland in northwest England. The town quickly grew to a population of 3,000. Miners of many nationalities and ethnicities worked there including Italians, Chinese, Japanese, and Blacks. Each group kept to their own community and racist attitudes prevailed. Dunsmuir, for example, paid Asian workers on a lower scale than white miners and used them as strikebreakers. In retaliation, miners often targeted their Chinese co-workers as scapegoats explosions or fires in the mines. With its eight coalmines, Cumberland contributed significantly to the province’s economic development. No. 4 mine alone produced 2,540 tonnes of coal a day. Although production fell in the 1920s, 80 businesses and 50 stores still served the town until they were destroyed in the fires of 1932 and 1933. Today, Cumberland is a quiet village with a main commercial street and side streets with old houses remaining from mining days. Visitors can still see the sealed coal shafts and visit the mining museum to appreciate the glory days of one of the province’s most important mining communities. |
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