Hillcrest was named after Charles Plummer Hill, an early coal prospector and entrepreneur who also founded Porthill, Idaho.

Hill grew up and was educated in Seaford, Delaware before moving northwest.

The Hillcrest Coal and Coke Company, incorporated on January 31, 1905, began constructing the community the same year, and the Canadian Pacific Railway soon built a spur, for transporting coal from the Hillcrest Mine, and a train station.

After the mine closed in 1939, Hillcrest experienced a period of economic decline.

5, which included the former hamlet of Hillcrest, amalgamated with Bellevue, Blairmore, Coleman and Frank to form the Municipality of Crowsnest Pass.