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• Great Fire of 1916, The
  On July 29, 1916, fires which had been burning for some weeks around settlers' clearings along the Temiskaming & Northern Ontario Railway were united by strong winds into one huge conflagration. Burning easterly along a 40-mile front, it largely or completely destroyed the settlements of Porquis Junction, Iroquois Falls, Kelso, Nushka, Matheson, and Ramore. It also partially razed the hamlets of Homer and Monteith, while a smaller fire caused widespread damage in and around Cochrane...

• Founding of Cochrane, The
  For centuries the site of Cochrane was used by indigenous peoples as a summer camping ground. Later it became a stopping place for fur traders en route to Moose Factory. In 1907 the Temiskaming and Northern Ontario Railway (later Ontario Northland) chose "Little Lakes Camping Ground" to be its junction point with the National Transcontinental (later Canadian National). The town site was named for the provincial minister of lands, forests and mines, Frank Cochrane was...

• Forty-Ninth Parallel, The
  At this point the 49th parallel of latitude north of the equator crosses the highway. This line forms the southern boundary of the western provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and most of British Columbia. In 1818 a treaty between Great Britain and the United States designated it as the international boundary from the Lake of the Woods to the Rocky Mountains. Further west in the Oregon Territory a bitter dispute arose which almost precipitated war between these two nations before they agreed in 1846 to extend the boundary to the shore of the Pacific along this parallel.

• Niven's Meridian
  The surveying of the line which intersects Highway No. 11 here (survey mile post 162) was the first step taken by the Ontario government in the exploration and development of this region. During the 1890s, interest in Ontario's northern mineral, forest and land resources increased rapidly. Accordingly, Alexander Niven (1836-1911) ran an exploration line to James Bay by extending northward what was then the boundary between the Algoma and Nipissing Districts. In 1896, he surveyed...

• Founding of Kapuskasing, The
  In 1911, the National Transcontinental Railway, then under construction, reached the present site of Kapuskasing. Three years later during the first World War the Canadian government established in the area a prisoner of war camp and an experimental farm to investigate the agricultural potential of the Clay Belt. The prisoners cleared land and worked on the farm. In 1917, the Ontario Government launched near here an ambitious land settlement scheme for veterans. The detention camp...

• Thomas James and the Search for the Northwest Passage
  In May 1631, Thomas James set sail from Bristol in search of a northwest passage to the Orient. After an arduous journey through Hudson Strait and across Hudson Bay, he proceeded southeast, exploring the bay that now bears his name. Convinced that no northwest passage existed there and alarmed by the rapid weather change, James anchored off Charlton Island, sank his ship to prevent its being smashed by ice and prepared for the first deliberate...

• Kenogamissi Post
  Near this site in 1794, Hudson's Bay Company employees from Frederick House, 40 miles to the northeast, established an outpost. Its objective was to counter the fur trading activities of the North West Company in the area, and it succeeded so well that in 1812 it became the chief post and Frederick House the subsidiary. Through its existence it engaged in spirited competition with the Northwesters on Mattagamie Lake and Kukatush Lake, some 32 miles...

• Henry Hudson and the Search for the Northwest Passage
  In 1610, Henry Hudson, a renowned English navigator, commenced his second voyage in search of a northwest route to China. With great daring and resolution he navigated the treacherous waters of Hudson Strait and descended into Hudson Bay. Believed to be the first European to explore this vast inland sea, Hudson laid the basis for English claims to much of present-day Canada. His accomplishments were marred, however, by discord on the voyage. Having prolonged his...

• Kapuskasing - Garden City and Model Town
  In 1921 the Kimberly-Clark and the Spruce Falls companies constructed a pulp mill in Kapuskasing that would employ many workers. To plan for Kapuskasing's anticipated growth, the provincial government commissioned the architectural landscape firm of Harries & Hall to create a town plan, which incorporated elements of the late 19th century Garden City and City Beautiful town planning movements. The first provincially-planned single resource town in Ontario, Kapuskasing's design focused on a healthy living environment...

• Timmins
  Ojibway and Cree communities were among the early inhabitants of the region. They were drawn to the area's abundant natural resources, and participated in vast trading networks with other First Nations. Europeans arrived in the late 1600s and in the centuries that followed, local French, English and First Nations communities were largely reliant on the fur trade. In the early 1900s, the Ontario government promoted further settlement in the region, and infrastructure – such as...

• Bradlo
  In 1930 a handful of Slovak immigrants settled eleven kilometres south of Hearst near present-day Highway 583. They helped each other build log houses, clear land and sell wood to pulp and paper mills. Soon other Slovaks were attracted to the community. By the middle of the Depression, Bradlo boasted 150 people, a public school, Catholic church, store, post-office and meeting hall. After their pulpwood was harvested, residents realized that their land would not support...

• French Presence in Hearst, The
  French Canadians began to settle in Hearst in 1912 during the construction of the National Transcontinental Railway. Most came to farm but soon turned to the more lucrative forest industry. Sawmills established by French Canadians prospered as family enterprises for decades, before being amalgamated into large forest-product companies by the end of the 20th century. Over the years, the French-speaking community in Hearst - once a minority - grew to 89% of the population with...

• CFCL Radio
  The first French-language radio station in Ontario, CFCL-Timmins, began broadcasting in December 1951. The event was greeted with enthusiasm by Franco-Ontarians who until then had heard limited programming in French over the airwaves. The station reached listeners from Kirkland Lake to Hearst, showcasing local talent and creating a sense of community among the widely dispersed francophone population of northern Ontario. Daily features on French life in the region taught cultural pride, the love of one's...

• Moose Factory — Môsonîwi-Miništik
  Môsonîwililiw oral tradition describes an ancestral couple, lowered here from a sky world, who were shown how to survive and thrive by animals who also gifted their lives for this purpose. The Creator’s laws, including honesty, courage and šawelihcikewin — sharing with gratitude and generosity — were reinforced over generations by lived experience of the benefits or consequences of upholding or ignoring these principles. After receiving hospitality at this Môsonîwililiw summer gathering site, Hudson’s Bay...

• Founding of Iroquois Falls, The
  This region's first inhabitants were aboriginal peoples who were attracted by its abundant natural resources and extensive water routes. Europeans arrived in the late 1600s to acquire furs and establish trade with the First Nations. During the early 1900s, Montreal businessman Frank Anson recognized the region's potential for paper manufacturing and, in 1912, he and Shirley Ogilvie were granted a pulpwood concession of over one million acres. Anson oversaw the establishment of Abitibi Power &amp...

• Frederick House
  A Hudson's Bay Company post named after a son of George III, Frederick House was established in 1785 to prevent Canadian fur traders in the Abitibi region from intercepting the passage of furs to Moose Fort (Moose Factory) on James Bay. Throughout its operation, it encountered intense, occasionally violent competition, particularly from a rival concern on nearby Devil's Island. As a result, it never flourished. After its manager, two labourers and a number of native...

• Porcupine Fire, The
  In the summer of 1911, when the Porcupine gold rush was at its height, the weather was hot and dry. On July 11, gale-force winds from the southwest whipped individual bush fires into a 16-km sea of flames that swiftly engulfed the drought-parched forest. The fire-storm swept through mining camps, razed the towns of South Porcupine and Pottsville, and partially destroyed Golden City (Porcupine) and Porquis Junction. Many people fled into Porcupine Lake to escape...

• Porcupine Mining Area, The
  From the 1880s onwards, as railways opened up northern Ontario, prospecting activity in this region intensified. The Porcupine gold rush began in 1909 following three significant discoveries. Thousands of prospectors and miners poured into Tisdale and neighbouring townships to stake claims. By 1912, several mines were in operation, including the celebrated "Big Three": Dome, Hollinger and McIntyre. That year, the Temiskaming and Northern Ontario Railway opened a branch line from South Porcupine to Timmins, which...

• Reesor Siding Incident
  This is the site of one of the bloodiest clashes in Canadian labour history. In January 1963, a contract dispute led to a strike by members of the Lumber and Sawmill Workers' Union who cut pulpwood for the paper mill in Kapuskasing. They tried to shut down the mill by blockading pulpwood shipments from independent contractors. Just after midnight on February 11, over 400 strikers arrived at Reesor Siding to dump logs stockpiled by a...

• Sergeant Aubrey Cosens, V.C. 1921-1945
  Born in Latchford and raised near Porquis Junction, Cosens enlisted in the Argyle and Sutherland Regiment, Canadian Active Service Force, in 1940 and transferred to the Queen's Own Rifles of Canada in 1944. Early on February 26, 1945, his unit attacked German forces at Mooshof, Holland, a strategic position vital to the success of future operations. His platoon suffered heavy casualties and Cosens assumed command. Supported by a tank, he led another attack against three...

• Kapuskasing Internment Camp 1914-1920
  When the First World War began, Canada established internment camps to detain persons viewed as security risks. Prejudice and wartime paranoia led to the needless internment of several thousand recent immigrants. The majority were Ukrainians whose homeland was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. One of the largest camps was built across the river from here at a remote railway siding. Despite harsh conditions, some 1,300 internees constructed buildings and cleared hundreds of acres of spruce...