The Little Clay Belt, the rich agricultural belt extending north from New Liskeard, was originally inhabited by the Algonquin First Nations, including Joachim "Clear Sky" Wabigijic and Angela Lapointe who lived by the mouth of the Wabi River. In 1891, William Murray and Irvin Heard settled here and two years later Crown Lands Agent John Armstrong arrived to supervise development. The abundance of good, inexpensive farmland attracted people from southern to "new" Ontario and the town quickly grew. It was incorporated as New Liskeard in 1903 and Armstrong became its first mayor. The Temiskaming and Northern Ontario Railway arrived two years later, helping to develop New Liskeard into the commercial centre of south Temiskaming.

Location

In Riverside Place, at the mouth of the Wabi River, in New Liskeard

Themes

• Agriculture
• Communities
• First Nations