Re: Boston Coal & Fuel - Perins Peak

Another interesting map was drawn by Lillian A. McCormick and included in her book "Perins Peak The Mining Camp That Was", published by her in 1984.
She grew up in the camp as a girl, living there from 1911 to 1922. Incidentally she insisted that the town was called Perins not Perins City. Her father, Leo McCormick, was the mine superintendent. Let me quote a bit from her book,
" Leo McCormick, my father, was born in Burnt Island, Scotland, Fifeshire, not far from Edinburgh -- in fact, just across the Firth of Fourth. He started working in the coal mines when he was ten years old, standing on a box to harness the ponies, which were used in the mines instead of mules as was done in Perins. Dad was the youngest of 28 children. There was one daughter younger than he.
It must not have been unusual for children to start work as soon as possible, especially in families that large where every penny (pence) helped."
Lillian goes on to describe how her father emigrated to Canada when he was 25 and eventually got to Perins. I find the size of his family to be staggering.
Reading this sort of material about families and working children makes one reluctant to wish for the "good old days".
However, back to Perins. If you do follow the grade, there is a good chance that at the trestle, you'll suddenly find yourself on the original wagon road into Perins, rather than continuing on the grade. The trestle is long gone, but it is shown on Lillian's map and if you know it is there, you'll be more alert. The trestle is not shown on the RGS aerial photo, however, on the map ot p333, it would be just off the bottom of the map. On that map, you can see the clearing which is the wagon road from the south. You can still find remants of the Thompson home, which is #13 on the RGS p333 map. Vivian Thompson was Lillian's mother. On Lillian's map she indicates an apple tree at the Thompson house, but it must have died of thirst or old age. At least I cannot find any sign of it.
I have referred to Lillian McCormick's writings as a book. It is more of a booklet, just 50 pages, but still an excellent presentation.