Sparwood was by no means a new community in 1964, nor was it a creation of the federal or provincial government. Sparwood had existed in the Elk Valley as early as the turn of the century but was never anything more than a few houses and a lumber mill. In 1939 the village was officially surveyed by the Crows Nest Pass Coal Company and special homes were built there for the mine's managers.  In the 1940s and 50s Michel-Natal residents were pressured by the Coal Company in particular to build homes in Sparwood.  Many residents chose to stay because the older homes that they were already living in offered not only cheap rent, but also the familiarity and comfort of friends and family.