Chalk River (2016 population: 1029) is a small rural village, part of the Laurentian Hills municipality in Renfrew County, Ontario, Canada. It is located in the Upper Ottawa Valley along

Highway 17 Route 17, or Highway 17 can refer to the following roads: For the roads named "A17", see list of A17 roads. International * European route E17 * European route E017 Australia * Brisbane Valley Highway, Queensland * D'Aguilar Highway, Queenslan ...

( Trans-Canada Highway), inland (west) from the

Ottawa River The Ottawa River (french: Rivière des Outaouais, Algonquin: ''Kichi-Sìbì/Kitchissippi'') is a river in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. It is named after the Algonquin word 'to trade', as it was the major trade route of Eastern ...

, approximately northwest of Petawawa, and northwest of

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

. Chalk River was a separate municipality until January 1, 2000, when the United Townships of Rolph, Buchanan, Wylie and McKay and the Village of Chalk River were merged. Chalk River's area is environmentally pristine with extensive forests, hills and numerous small lakes, all of which support a variety of wildlife typical to the southern edge of the

Canadian Shield The Canadian Shield (french: Bouclier canadien ), also called the Laurentian Plateau, is a geologic shield, a large area of exposed Precambrian igneous and high-grade metamorphic rocks. It forms the North American Craton (or Laurentia), the anc ...

. St. Anthony's Elementary School is the only educational institution in the community, instructing grades Junior Kindergarten to Grade 8. It provides Catholic education to the children in the neighbourhood, with a church next door. Students in higher grades are bussed to nearby Deep River. The town consists mainly of detached houses with some townhouses and an apartment building. Local services include a convenience store and a gas station. The only traditional truck stop-style restaurant, the Treetop, was lost in February 2019 to a roof collapse and remains to be demolished or rebuilt. The Chalk River library, the Lions Hall, and the Legion all play an important part in the community. Local recreational activities include hiking, fourwheeling, and biking. In the winter, snowmobile and cross country ski trails can be enjoyed. A skating rink and baseball diamond are also present.

History

The town was first settled in the mid-19th century and named in 1875 after the Chalk River (named for the chalk loggers used to mark logs) flowing just south of the community. Chalk River played an increasingly important role in settlement of the Upper Ottawa Valley after a

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway (french: Chemin de fer Canadien Pacifique) , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadi ...

line was constructed through the area.

Demographics

In the

2021 Census of Population The 2021 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population with a reference date of May 11, 2021. It follows the 2016 Canadian census, which recorded a population of 35,151,728. The overall response rate was 98%, which is sli ...

conducted by

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; french: Statistique Canada), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and cultur ...

, Chalk River had a population of 1,025 living in 412 of its 437 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 1,000. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.

Local employers

Employers include Bubble Technology Industries. The Canadian Forest Service maintains the Petawawa Research Forest nearby. The community borders the northern edge of CFB Petawawa. Chalk River Laboratories, formerly ''Chalk River Nuclear Laboratories'', was the first laboratory created by Atomic Energy of Canada Limited. It is located on the bank of the Ottawa River in the neighbouring town of Deep River. It opened in 1944 and hosted the first nuclear reactor outside of the United States to become operational, in 1945. It was the site of two nuclear accidents in the 1950s, the 1952 NRX incident and the 1958 NRU incident. Future U.S. president Jimmy Carter, then a U.S. Navy officer in Schenectady, New York, led a team of 26 men, including 13 U.S. Navy volunteers in the hazardous cleanup of the first of these.

References

External links

The Former Residents of Buchanan Township
{{authority control Former villages in Ontario Designated places in Ontario Communities in Renfrew County