Once called the "highest city in Canada" by its citizens (1,412 metres / 4,633 feet above sea level) it was a booming copper mining community from the late 1890s until 1919.

[2] His discovery became the first of many claims and a settlement called Greenwood Camp was built, but it was not until 1895 that the full riches of the area were realized and the boom really began.

[2] By the early 1900s, Phoenix was a thriving community with electricity and telephone services, a hospital, banquet hall, ballroom, opera house and its own stage line.

There was no lack of fine meals or accommodation: on the Christmas Day menu at the Brooklyn Hotel in 1911 the variety of delicacies included Russian caviar, Green Turtle soup and English plum pudding with brandy sauce.

[1]: 178 When World War I ended in 1918, the price of copper dropped dramatically and Phoenix, which was completely reliant on its one industry, began to die.