- 4,300–4,600Feet above the sea: the highest city in Canada
- 2,000–4,000People: the survey’s count in 1908, the estimates by 1911
- 17Saloons at one time, open around the clock
- 37Kilometres of tunnel under the hill by June 1919
- 21.5 millionTonnes of ore mined, 1900 to 1978
Also known as
Knob Hill · Old Ironsides · Granby Phoenix · Victoria · Aetna · Idaho · Brooklyn · Stemwinder · Gold Drop · Snowshoe · Rawhide
1891
Level one · The first claims, 15 July 1891
Two Claims, One Hill, One Day
On 15 July 1891 Henry White staked the Knob Hill claim on an outcrop of ore, and his partner Matthew Hotter staked Old Ironsides beside it. Hotter named both: Old Ironsides after a gunboat of the American Civil War, and Knob Hill after Nob Hill in San Francisco.
Before the summer was out, most of the ground that mattered was staked. One fraction, the Silver King, was let lapse and relocated by Robert Dengler as the Phoenix, and the city took its name from that claim. The ore ran low in copper, gold and silver, and many claims lapsed again, until the prospectors found it was practically self-fluxing.
O.E. LeRoy · Geological Survey of Canada, 1912
“It was recognized at an early period that it was no poor man’s camp, and that a large amount of time and capital must be expended in developing the ore bodies, and in the building of smelters …”
The capital came from Granby, Quebec, where S.H.C. Miner made rubber boots. With the Spokane promoters Jay P. Graves and A.L. Little he formed the Miner-Graves Syndicate, which began work on the Old Ironsides and Knob Hill in 1896. By 1901 it was the Granby Consolidated Mining, Smelting and Power Company, and the river that runs through Grand Forks has carried the company’s name since 1915.
Staked in 1891 · as the Geological Survey recorded them
| Claim | Staked by | When |
|---|---|---|
| Knob Hill | Henry White | 15 July |
| Old Ironsides | Matthew Hotter | 15 July |
| Stemwinder | James Attwood and James Schofield | About 25 July |
| Brooklyn | Joseph Taylor and Stephen Mangott | 31 July |
| Phoenix | Relocated by Robert Dengler | The city’s name |
1900
Level two · The Granby smelter blows in
The Wire That Fed the Boom
The Canadian Pacific’s branch line reached the camp in time for the first ore, which went down the hill to Granby’s new smelter at Grand Forks on 10 July 1900. The first furnace was blown in on 21 August. The timing made the town: cities across North America were being wired for electric light and the telephone, and copper carried the current.
Phoenix ore was low grade, but it smelted with little more than coke. That chemistry let Granby mine, at a profit, lower-grade ore than had been mined anywhere up to that time, by the company’s own account. The City of Phoenix was incorporated the same year, and the Great Northern brought a second railway in 1904.
The Hill
Knob Hill · Old Ironsides · Victoria
Low-grade copper ore, self-fluxing: it smelts with little more than coke.
Ore, by rail, from 1900
The Granby Smelter
Grand Forks · blown in 21 August 1900
The largest non-ferrous smelter in the British Empire, by Granby’s own account.
Copper, 1900–1919
The Wire
Cities being wired for light and the telephone.
Copper carried the current.
1910
Level three · The city on the mountain
The Highest City in Canada
At 4,300 to 4,600 feet above the sea, its citizens called it the highest city in Canada, and the magistrate had a line to go with it. The Geological Survey put the population at about 2,000 when it mapped the camp in 1908; by 1911 the estimates ran to 4,000. There were two railways, a hospital, a brewery, moving pictures, tennis courts, a skating rink and seventeen saloons open around the clock.
The town printed its own paper, the Phoenix Pioneer, and when fire took much of the town in August 1910 the Pioneer told the story.
The Town in Its Own Words
Set from the originals · sources on each
Judge Willie Williams · The city’s magistrate
“I am the highest judge, in the highest court, in the highest city in Canada.”
The Brooklyn Hotel
The Phoenix Pioneer · After the fire of August 1910
“All the buildings being frame they were eaten up like matchwood by the fire and the heat was terrific.”
Lois Haggen · 1957
“They had tennis courts, moving pictures, a brewery, and, at one time, 17 saloons, all open 24 hours and provided with all the gambling devices known.”
Where they came from · the cemetery stones
Caernarvonshire, North Wales · Sweden · Aprigliano and Agliè, Italy · Udbina, Lika · Switzerland · England · Saranac Lake, New York · Bolton, Quebec · Oshawa, Ontario
“Here rests a woodsman of the world.”
G. Enger Floren, of Sollefteå, Sweden. Died 5 July 1908, aged 28.
1919
Level four · June 1919
Killed by Peace
The war ended and the copper price went with it. The ore had thinned, and a strike in the Crowsnest coal fields cut off the coke the smelter burned. Granby closed the mine and the smelter in June 1919, and the town emptied within months.
In 1920 the wrecking crews came for what was left standing. People came in from the towns around and cleaned out the houses, and took the lumber and the bricks. What they left collapsed and rotted.
The Rink Paid for the Cenotaph
Lois Haggen · 1957
“The City Council wound up its affairs, sold the skating rink, which had been paid for by public subscription, to a Vancouver firm … and used the money to build a cenotaph in memory of the boys from Phoenix who had lost their lives in the war.”
Erected in October 1920, it was the last thing the city built, and the only thing it ever built in stone. It still stands.
The fifteen names on the cenotaph
- James Cochrane
- Joseph Fleming
- Elmo R. Geddes
- Oscar Gustafson
- Sydney Jennings
- Anton Johnson
- James C. Kempston
- John Lindsay
- Roy A. MacDonald
- Dudley MacMillan
- Thomas Monahan
- John A. Parry
- D.M. Pittendrigh
- James Pitpladdy
- Fred Wilkinson
Now You’re the Boss
The council kept one man on to look after the empty town for about a year while everyone else got out: a prospector who had lost a hand, and went by Forepaw. Years before, when a gash from a pack saddle sent him to Mayo’s for treatment, the council had bought mining claims of his that it considered worthless, to pay his way. He came home with an iron hook the blacksmith made him, and went back to work.
Lois Haggen · 1957
“They made a silver star from a tomato tin, gave this and a ‘billy’ to Forepaw and said, ‘Now you’re the boss’.”
Lois Haggen · 1957
“Forepaw could take his choice of the buildings so he decided to move into the city hall and called himself mayor as well as local constable.”
Lois Haggen · 1957
“Forepaw died. Phoenix became a town of no inhabitants.”
W.H. Bambury built boats for the Columbia River before he came up to Phoenix to do carpenter work. When the town emptied, he stayed on in Dr. Boucher’s house. For several years he spent his summers in Phoenix and his winters in Greenwood, and then he stopped coming back. His stone calls him the last resident.
Forepaw was Adolph Sercu, from Belgium. He died in 1942. In 2017 the Boundary Historical Society put a stone on his grave in the Phoenix cemetery.
The stone in the Phoenix cemetery; Lois Haggen, 1957; Grand Forks Gazette and Boundary Historical Society, 2017
1959
Level five · The open pit, to 1978
The Mountain Comes Back for the City
Through the thirties W.E. McArthur of Greenwood leased the dead mine and worked the Old Ironsides, and in the end he bought it. In 1955 Granby bought the property back and came at the hill from the top.
Open-pit mining began in 1959 at 900 tons a day and climbed to 3,000. By 1964 four pits were working: Old Ironsides, Idaho, Snowshoe and Stemwinder. The pit ate the old underground workings and buried or bulldozed what was left of the town, until an oval hole 425 metres by 800 lay where the city had stood.
In the last years the mill also took ore trucked up from the Lone Star mine across the line in Washington. Mining stopped in 1976. The mill ran on the stockpile into 1978, and the province’s record closes the operation on 4 October 1978.
Before the blasting
“The Phoenix Cenotaph was moved some 1,500 feet away prior to the reopening of the workings to prevent any damage to the monument from mining explosions.”
Annual Report 1965 · Property File
On the back of the 1965 print
“Note pumphouse at collar of Victoria shaft, lower left; old substation building, lower right. These are relics of original Granby operation.”
12,434,620Tonnes · the first life, underground, to June 1919
9,070,560Tonnes · the second life, the pit, 1959 to 1978
Now
The second life
A Camera Goes Back Underground
Frank came to Grand Forks for the flying, and he found Phoenix from the air: a huge open pit, a lake, and a mountainside of old workings. It became one of his two favourite mines. The other is Anyox.
The province’s record says the pit took out almost all of the old underground workings. Frank’s camera goes into what is left, so nobody else has to.
Phoenix · Belly-down, camera first Phoenix, 2021 · Setting the rope Phoenix, 2021 · A ladder in the chute timbering
What is left down there
Phoenix, 2021 · Still water in the old workings Phoenix, 2021 · Down the rope, beside an old ladder Phoenix, 2021 · A train of ore cars, left on the rails Phoenix, 2021 · Ice on the chute timbers Phoenix, 2021 · Fallen timbers under the ice Phoenix, 2019 · An ore car on its side
Frank Schlichting Documentary
UNDERMINE
“An abandoned mine explorer visits two of the largest ghost towns in Canada and enters the long abandoned mines under them to see what remains.”
The ledger
Every Year the Province Counted
Tonnes of ore mined each year from 1900 to 1978, from the province’s own production table. The cliff is 1919. The long quiet is the ghost town. The second rise is the pit. Point at any year to read it.Touch the chart and slide along it to read any year.
1912 1,134,600 tonnes mined, the biggest year
- Tonnes mined
- The biggest year
- Nothing mined; the mill ran on the stockpile
- 21,552,283Tonnes of ore mined
- 911,172Ounces of gold
- 5,884,736Ounces of silver
- 519,613,469Pounds of copper
- 37 kmOf tunnels by June 1919
Every year’s figure, as a table
| Year | Tonnes mined | Tonnes milled from the stockpile |
|---|---|---|
| 1900 | 84,266 | |
| 1901 | 206,635 | |
| 1902 | 278,087 | |
| 1903 | 354,232 | |
| 1904 | 493,960 | |
| 1905 | 595,959 | |
| 1906 | 735,184 | |
| 1907 | 556,618 | |
| 1908 | 933,260 | |
| 1909 | 939,392 | |
| 1910 | 975,098 | |
| 1911 | 551,638 | |
| 1912 | 1,134,600 | |
| 1913 | 1,113,603 | |
| 1914 | 673,118 | |
| 1915 | 939,135 | |
| 1916 | 891,646 | |
| 1917 | 446,379 | |
| 1918 | 402,002 | |
| 1919 | 129,805 | |
| 1920 | 539 | |
| 1924 | 548 | |
| 1936 | 4,092 | |
| 1937 | 13,949 | |
| 1938 | 3,929 | |
| 1939 | 657 | |
| 1940 | 8,284 | |
| 1941 | 13,062 | |
| 1942 | 2,047 | |
| 1959 | 159,614 | |
| 1960 | 314,463 | |
| 1961 | 381,353 | |
| 1962 | 503,212 | |
| 1963 | 585,206 | |
| 1964 | 617,952 | |
| 1965 | 638,129 | |
| 1966 | 605,925 | |
| 1967 | 726,062 | |
| 1968 | 589,712 | |
| 1969 | 714,460 | |
| 1970 | 798,183 | |
| 1971 | 775,085 | |
| 1972 | 803,439 | |
| 1973 | 170,502 | |
| 1974 | 171,149 | |
| 1975 | 332,480 | |
| 1976 | 183,633 | |
| 1977 | – | 832,583 |
| 1978 | – | 237,801 |
BC Geological Survey, MINFILE production detail report · Open Government Licence – British Columbia
The names
The Men the Mines Killed
The ledger counts tonnes. This counts men: thirty-four killed in the mines at Phoenix between 1902 and 1917, each with how he died, as it was written down at the time.
The list is not complete. If you hold a name that belongs here, write to Frank.
The Phoenix Pioneer · 2 and 9 May 1908
“Last Sunday afternoon a distressing accident occurred in the Granby Mine by which Christopher B. Martin and Kingsley Greenough Smith lost their lives.”
“… it was the largest funeral ever held in this city.”
Antony J. Rian
1 March 1902
Crushed by falling rock in the glory hole of the Knob Hill mine.
Frederick Turton
5 January 1903
Killed instantly by rockslide at Knob Hill Mine.
James McCabb
23 October 1903
Died in accident at Knob Hill Mine.
Oscar Tumquist
2 August 1904
Killed instantly by a premature blast.
Vernon Hill
23 February 1905
Struck by the timbers at the mouth of the tunnel and knocked down between the cars.
Norman McRitchie
April 1905
Pinned against the timbers and crushed.
Frank Loster
June 1905
A piece of ore weighing perhaps 500 lbs. came down and pinned him to the floor.
James McGregor
17 July 1905
Killed instantly in the Granby Mine, mucking at the 19th chute of the third level.
William Nears
24 February 1906
Fell down shaft at Brooklyn Mine.
Charles Hedberg
6 November 1906
Killed while loading shot in Gold Drop Mine.
Miko Spodirvyk
8 July 1907
Fell down a shaft at the 200 foot level.
Alexander Dawson
9 October 1907
Crushed in a shoot at the Rawhide Mine.
Christopher B. Martin
26 April 1908
Fell from bench in #61 Stope on 300 foot level, going down about 25 feet to the muck pile below.
Kingsley Greenough Smith
26 April 1908
The same fall, #61 Stope, Granby Mine.
John Anderson
18 December 1908
Killed in a premature explosion in mine.
Charles Johnston
18 December 1908
Blown up in a premature explosion in mine.
Patrick J. Kellun
2 March 1909
Struck by a rock fall in Granby Mine.
James W. Barry
16 May 1909
Died from shock due to cave-in in the Snowshoe mine.
Axel Liljenberg
1 October 1909
Crushed between a motor car and the side of a drift in the Granby Mine.
Axel Konrad Carlson
2 January 1910
Fell from bench in Gold Drop Mine and fractured skull.
Archie Boyd
8 March 1910
Killed by belated blast in #89 Stope, Granby Mine.
John O. Mullen
8 March 1910
The same blast, #89 Stope.
Mike Bauer
17 August 1910
Rock fell on him in Snowshoe Mine.
Timothy Baldwin
27 January 1912
Went down with the dislodged muck to his death.
Paul S. Nelson
March 1913
Mine accident. Crushed spine.
Jacob Tahija
22 May 1913
Instantly killed by the premature explosion of a charge of dynamite, Gold Drop Mine.
Alfred Nelson
14 August 1913
Broken neck, crushed chest, punctured lung.
John R. Nelson
31 December 1913
Blast in No. 3 tunnel. Broken neck.
Thomas Fisher
25 June 1914
Killed in cave-in at Ironsides Mine.
Shift Boss McDougall
5 July 1914
A block of ground fell without a moment’s notice.
William Tatham
5 July 1914
Shift boss. The same fall of ground.
Frank Riordan
5 July 1914
Motorman. The same fall of ground.
Johan Marensius Johnson
17 March 1915
Killed instantly, taking steel through a chute.
John Nerhus
18 October 1917
Severe internal injuries caused by fall of rock.
One fall of ground · 5 July 1914
“A block of ground … fell without a moments notice. Shift Bosses McDougall and Tatham and motorman Riordan … were instantly killed.”
Names, dates and causes from The Story of the City of Phoenix and of the Cemetery of Phoenix, Boundary Historical Society, 2017 · stones in the Phoenix cemetery
The Phoenix Record
Take the Whole Record With You
One PDF, made to be printed and kept. It carries this page’s story with its photographs, and the province’s complete MINFILE record for Phoenix.
- Part 1The story of Phoenix, 1891 to today, with the photographs
- Part 2The men the mines killed, 1902 to 1917
- Part 3The MINFILE record in full: summary, capsule geology, production 1900 to 1978, bibliography
The Phoenix Record · PDFComing soon
Also to download
The 1912 Survey, Restored
O.E. LeRoy’s Geological Survey memoir on Phoenix, newly typeset from a scan of the 1912 original, with its photographs. Its maps and mine plans are left out: the site never publishes where a working is.
The 1912 memoir · PDF · Coming soon
Record card
- MINFILE No.
- 082ESE020
- Status
- Past producer
- Also known as
- Knob Hill · Old Ironsides · Granby Phoenix · Victoria · Aetna · Idaho · Brooklyn · Stemwinder · Gold Drop · Snowshoe · Rawhide
- Worked
- 1900–1919 underground · 1920–1942 in small lots · 1959–1978 open pit
- Commodities
- Copper, gold, silver; lead and iron recorded
- Camp and division
- Phoenix camp · Boundary · Greenwood Mining Division
The provincial record, last edited 22 July 2020, as extracted 28 September 2026 · Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – British Columbia
Questions
Five Questions People Ask About Phoenix, BC
Is Phoenix, BC a Ghost Town?
Yes. Phoenix emptied after Granby closed the mine and the smelter in June 1919, and in 1920 the wrecking crews came; the houses were stripped for their lumber and bricks, and what was left collapsed. The open pit of 1959 to 1978 buried or bulldozed the rest. The cemetery and the cenotaph remain. Nothing on this page is a guide to any of it; the films are the way in.
How Did Phoenix Get Its Name?
From a mining claim. A fraction staked in 1891 as the Silver King lapsed and was relocated by Robert Dengler as the Phoenix, and the city was named from it. The camp was known as the Greenwood camp until the post office opened as Phoenix in 1898.
Why Was Phoenix Called the Highest City in Canada?
It stood 4,300 to 4,600 feet above the sea, and its citizens called it the highest city in Canada. The magistrate, Willie Williams, went further: “I am the highest judge, in the highest court, in the highest city in Canada.”
Why Did the Phoenix Mine Close?
Twice, for different reasons. In 1919 the copper price fell with the end of the war, the ore had thinned and the smelter’s coke ran short. In the 1970s the pit had taken what was left: mining stopped in 1976, and the mill ran on the stockpile into 1978. The province’s record closes the operation on 4 October 1978.
How Much Copper Came Out of the Phoenix Mine?
The province recorded 519,613,469 pounds of copper between 1900 and 1978, with 911,172 ounces of gold and 5,884,736 ounces of silver, from 21,552,283 tonnes of ore.
Sources and records
O.E. LeRoy, The Geology and Ore Deposits of Phoenix, Boundary District, British Columbia, Geological Survey of Canada Memoir 21 (1912), with its McRae photographs, in the restored reading edition among the downloads above · BC Geological Survey, MINFILE 082ESE020, record summary and production detail report · The Story of the City of Phoenix and of the Cemetery of Phoenix, Boundary Historical Society, reprint No. 6 (2017), with Lois Haggen’s 1957 address and the cemetery records · Al Donnelly, The Men on the Phoenix Cenotaph, Boundary Historical Society Report 16, and the National Inventory of Canadian Military Memorials · The Phoenix Pioneer, UBC Library, BC Historical Newspapers · Bruce Ramsey, Ghost Towns of British Columbia (1963) · Granby Mining Company, A Brief History and Description of the Phoenix Operation (1971) and Mineral Industries in Western Canada: Phoenix (CIM, 1974), both in the province’s property file · Photographs in the province’s property file: the Victoria shaft and the Granby ore bins, 1907 (Provincial Archives, Victoria), and the pit from the headwall of the old Ironsides, July 1965 (BC Department of Mines, Annual Report 1965) · J. Kalmakov, Visualizing Phoenix, British Columbia · Photographs of Phoenix today: from Frank Schlichting’s archive.
Where the town’s own boasts and the record disagree, the page says which is which. Updated 28 September 2026.
The record isn’t finished
Worked at Phoenix, or knew someone who did? A name, a story or a photograph the record doesn’t have is worth sending.
Letters from a Retired Madman
One Photograph. One Story. Once a Month.
Frank picks one photograph out of the archive and tells the story of the day it was taken.
Unsubscribe anytime.
