One unique feature of Drumheller is the vast history, from the age of the dinosaur to the mining magnates.
A novel site in downtown Drumheller, it stands out with its fence made of petrified logs and dinosaur vertebrae. Sadly many of the vertebrae have disappeared over the years.
The home has a long history in the valley. Former resident and history buff Will Krueger shared some history he learned on the home with the Mail. He said the home was owned by P.S. Brown.
“I was able to find out that P.S. Brown was a contractor before he became a pharmacist and then later a doctor. The first record I have of him living at 300 3rd Ave E. is in 1921 as per the census that year. It stands to reason he built the house as well but I have yet to find proof,” said Krueger.
He said P.S. Brown worked as a contractor and was involved in many developments.
“He made his own bricks from the red shale found in the valley that he used to build the store front of his Gilt Edge Pharmacy on Centre Street. Perhaps he used the same process on the house,” said Kreuger. “He was one of Drumheller’s early citizens and also built the Jesse Gouge house on 2nd St. W. and built the first two wooden schools in Drumheller. The first one is still there on 2nd St. W., it was built in 1913 I believe and became a United Church manse and later a residence. He built a second floor on the RJ Flowers store circa 1918.”
He lived at the 3rd Ave residence until about 1940, and was said to have built the fence in 1937.
He said in the 1940s it was occupied by J. M. Anderson and then in the late 1940s occupied by Andrew A. Millar. In the 1950s it was the home of Sid and Anne McMullen.
The McMullen family has a deep history in the valley during the mining years. Seneca Lent McMullen was born in Truro, Nova Scotia, came west to Drumheller in 1912 and developed the Midland Mine. After a short venture into machinery, he came back mining and took control of the Midland Mine in partnership with Garnet Napier Coyle. He later bought out Coyle and the Midland Mine became one of the largest producers in the district.
One development he was noted for was he was able to obtain quick-drying paint and branded his coal with a yellow circle with an “M”. He opened the second mine, the Mercury Mine in 1928, and the trade name became Mercury Coal.
The Midland Mine closed in 1939-1940, but the Mercury Mine continued under the designation of the Midland Mine #367.
Seneca’s two sons Arthur and Sidney were both officers in the Canadian Forces.
It was under Sidney the coal mine continued. In 1954, Eric Lovet of the Monarch Mine joined forces with the McMullen family and formed Amalgamated Coal. The Midland Mine ceased operations in 1959, but family involvement in the industry continued. In 1973 Amalgamated Coal joined forces with Century Coal and formed Charter Coal with the McMullen, Lovet, and Patrick families as partners.
Sid left Drumheller in 1963 but continued marketing for Amalgamated Coal and then Century Coal, based in Calgary.
In 1974 McMullen donated the 1,495 acres of mine land to the province, which became Midland Provincial Park. This includes the land where the Royal Tyrrell Museum now stands as well as a Midland Mine interpretive site.
Kerry McLellan tells the Mail he knew Sidney well. McLellan’s grandfather Frederick Smith was one of the first employees at the Midland Mine, and the last to leave.
This was one of two historic homes that belonged to the McMullen family. McLellan said he once lived at the home in Midland Provincial Park where the park offices now sit.
