Rossland Miners Union Hall is valued as a monument to the Rossland Miners Union No. 38 local of the Western Federation of Miners, the first metalliferous mines union local in BC, and one of the most influential and successful unions in the history of the province. Built in 1898, this historic place was the central organization point for the Miners Union, whose fight for just and safe labour conditions at the end of the nineteenth-century led to the legislation of the eight-hour work day, amended the Trade Union Act, and paved the way for the union movement in British Columbia and Canada.
Rossland Miners Union Hall is an important part of British Columbia's heritage because it is a symbolic icon of the province's early mining industry. Having survived a series of major fires in the town's history, this historic place is one of BC's earliest surviving miners' union halls, and is one of the few extant wooden buildings of this era, stature, and use in the province. It is valued as a touchstone to the mining heyday of the late 1890s, which initiated the development of infrastructure, transportation, and permanent settlements in this part of the Kootenay-Boundary region of BC.
Designed by architect E.J. Weston, and incorporating a variety of spaces such as a lodge room, dancing room, and a small stage, it is significant that the Rossland Miners Union Hall continues to function in its intended multi-purpose community capacity. Historically the hub of the community, this historic place has retained a respected level of social value for over one hundred years, a fact which warranted its provincially-sponsored restoration and rehabilitation in the late 1970s, and maintained its status as a social centre and rallying point in the community.
Miners' Union Hall National Historic Site
of Canada
Description of Historic Place
Miners’ Union Hall National Historic Site of Canada is a handsome timber building in the late-Victorian Gothic Revival Style prominently located in downtown Rossland, British Columbia. Located within a largely residential area, the building’s two-storey façade fronts Columbia Avenue while a steep treed escarpment enables three-storeys at the rear. The designation refers to the building on its footprint.
Heritage Value
The Miners’ Union Hall was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 2019. It is recognized because:
• a rare surviving building of its type in Western Canada, this eclectic, wooden, late-Victorian Gothic Revival Style building serves as a major landmark for the community. Retaining excellent architectural integrity, it is still today an important community meeting place for the people of Rossland;
• it was constructed by Local 38 of the Western Federation of Miners (WFM) as a meeting place, and testifies to the union’s determined battle for miners’ rights in the region, which led to legislation guaranteeing an eight-hour work day for miners in the province (1899) and contributed to the enactment of the Conciliation Act (1900);
• built in 1898 in Rossland, a resource town marked by unprecedented economic growth following the late 19th century Gold Rush in Western Canada, it is a particularly rare and eloquent example in Canada of a building expressly designed to house a union hall.
Miners’ Union Hall was built to serve as a meeting place for Local 38 of the Western Federation of Miners. This local was founded in Rossland in 1895, and was the first union local in the mining sector in British Columbia. It led the fight for fair and safe working conditions which eventually produced legislation guaranteeing an eight-hour work day for miners in the province. This hall, a utilitarian structure, is also an eclectic example of the late-Victorian Gothic Revival style. A major landmark in Rossland, rehabilitation work preserved the main characteristics of its architecture, while its historical associations speak to this building’s historic connection with miners’ rights and miners in the region. Miners’ Union Hall also speaks to the importance of mining in Canada in late 19th century and early 20th century. Although it no longer serves as union hall, it is a well-used community gathering space.
Character-Defining Elements
Key elements contributing to the heritage value of this site include:
its prominent location on a main street in downtown Rossland in a largely residential setting;
its rectangular footprint, distinct massing, two-storey front elevation and three-storey rear elevation with steeply pitched gable roof;
the late-Victorian Gothic Revival Style decoration including that on the pediment at the top of the façade, the decorative roof parapet and gable;
the symmetrical façade’s classical architecture elements, including triangular pediments above windows and doors, inset central balcony, carved wooden ornamentation,
and the original inscriptions “1898” on the central gable, “Miners Union” on the balcony, and “Miners Union Hall” over the central door;
the large central entrance with glazed transom flanked by tall rectangular windows, the regularly placed windows on the side elevations, and balcony and shed-roofed side entrances;
the boom town influenced construction using wooden posts and beams, wood siding and details;
the original plan and distribution of interior spaces including the lobby, open auditorium with cathedral ceiling, inclined wooden stage, basement and attic; surviving original materials, wood finishes executed in fir and cedar including doors, wall panelling, exposed wooden beams, embossed metal ceilings and metal ventilation grilles.
From Parks Canada