Burchell Lake is a
ghost town
Ghost Town(s) or Ghosttown may refer to:
* Ghost town, a town that has been abandoned
Film and television
* Ghost Town (1936 film), ''Ghost Town'' (1936 film), an American Western film by Harry L. Fraser
* Ghost Town (1956 film), ''Ghost Town'' ...
in the
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
province of
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
, located behind a locked gate at the southern end of
Highway 802 in the
Thunder Bay District
Thunder Bay District is a district and census division in Northwestern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario. The district seat is Thunder Bay.
In 2016, the population was 146,048. The land area is ; the population density was . Most of ...
.
[Ron Brown, ''Ontario's Ghost Town Heritage''. Boston Mills Press, 2007. .]
The town existed only from 1959 to 1967, as a
company town
A company town is a place where practically all stores and housing are owned by the one company that is also the main employer. Company towns are often planned with a suite of amenities such as stores, houses of worship, schools, markets and re ...
, owned by North Coldsteam Mines Limited.
History
A
copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...
mining town which was active from 1959 to 1967, the town had approximately 400 residents at its peak.
[Burchell Lake]
at Ontario Abandoned Places. The Burchell Lake area had seen mineral exploration as early as 1902, but active development of large-scale mining operations in the area was not economically feasible until the completion of
Highway 11 through the region in 1954.
After a mine shaft and mill complex was built, the Coldstream Copper Mines company began building a townsite for its workers in 1959. However, the price of copper had fallen sufficiently by 1967 that the mine was no longer profitable, and the site was shut down in 1967. In less than ten years of operations, workers at Burchell Lake had mined an estimated 102 million pounds of ore.
A number of recreational
cottages
A cottage, during Feudalism in England, England's feudal period, was the holding by a cottager (known as a Cotter (farmer), cotter or ''bordar'') of a small house with enough garden to feed a family and in return for the cottage, the cottager ...
are still located in the area.
Existence as a ghost town
Easily accessible, Burchell Lake remained one of Ontario's best-preserved ghost towns for many years, with many of its buildings still standing at the townsite as of summer 2011.
[ This included a dozen or so houses (some with basements), the original BA gas station, two room school, and collapsed recreation hall.]biosolids
Biosolids are solid organic matter recovered from a sewage treatment process and used as fertilizer. In the past, it was common for farmers to use animal manure to improve their soil fertility. In the 1920s, the farming community began also to use ...
to encourage vegetation growth.
A 40-year community reunion was held in nearby Shebandowan
Shebandowan is an unincorporated community in the Canadian province of Ontario, located on Highway 11 in the Thunder Bay District.
The community is administered by a local services board, and is counted as part of the Unorganized Thunder Bay Dis ...
in 2007.Burchell Lake Reunion
See also
*
Coldstream Copper Mine
References
{{authority control
Communities in Thunder Bay District
Ghost towns in Ontario
Mining communities in Ontario
Copper mines in Ontario
Company towns in Canada