Description of Historic Place

The Fan House, #5 Mine is a ruin located in the CDMU-6 zone to the west of the Village of Cumberland. It is located across a small natural canyon at such a height that it can directly connect horizontally with a shaft into Mine #5.

Heritage Value

The heritage value of The Fan House, #5 Mine ruin lies with its connection with the history of western settlement and coal mining in Cumberland and the province of British Columbia.

Cumberland, once Canada's smallest and westernmost city, was founded in 1888 by coal baron Robert Dunsmuir who eventually dug 8 mines in the area. The original settlement had been named Union after the Union Coal Company (which took its name from the union of British Columbia with Canada in 1871). Cumberland was producing 700 to 1000 tons a day by 1897, employing 600 men and supporting a town of 3,000. In 1898, the post office address of Union was changed to Cumberland, as many of the town miners were from the famous English coal-mining district of Cumberland in England. Today, many of the town's streets are named after that English district. Cumberland remained an active coal-mining town until 1966 despite enduring devastating mine explosions, two world wars and bitter labour disputes.

A mine Fan House was a semi-circular enclosure/structure that housed the large fan that forced air down below into the mine. The air ventilation was necessary for the miners to breathe and to remove dangerous gases such as methane, hydrogen sulfide, and carbon monoxide. Often the total weight of the air pumped through the mine exceeds the total weight of coal removed. Cumberland mines were notoriously gassy, filing with methane gas many times a year. This meant that the fan house was absolutely critical to the safe operation of a mine. This ruin serves as a reminder of the construction that had to be completed in the area of a mine before active mining could take place.

Character-Defining Elements

The heritage character of the Fan House, #5 Mine ruin is defined by the following elements:

- 20 inch-wide concrete foundations
- remaining reinforced concrete walls
- remains of concrete roof slabs
- horizontal connection to #5 mine shaft
- siting in narrow natural canyon
- connection with the history of coal mining in Cumberland