Walden (
Canada 1996 Census population 10,292) was a town in the
Canadian province
Within the geographical areas of Canada, the ten provinces and three territories are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British North ...
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 ...
, which existed from 1973 to 2000. Created as part of the
Regional Municipality of Sudbury
The Regional Municipality of Sudbury was a Regional Municipality that existed in Ontario, Canada, from 1973 to 2000, and was primarily centred on the city of Sudbury. It served as an upper-tier level of municipal government, aggregating municipal ...
when
regional government
Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-loca ...
was introduced, the town was dissolved when the city of
Greater Sudbury
Sudbury, officially the City of Greater Sudbury is the largest city in Northern Ontario by population, with a population of 166,004 at the 2021 Canadian Census. By land area, it is the largest in Ontario and the List of the largest cities and to ...
was incorporated on January 1, 2001. The name Walden continues to be informally used to designate the area.
Walden now constitutes most of Ward 2 on
Greater Sudbury City Council
Greater Sudbury City Council (french: Conseil municipal du Grand Sudbury) is the governing body of the City of Greater Sudbury, Ontario, Canada.
The council consists of the mayor plus a twelve-person council. The city is divided into twelve wards; ...
, and is represented by councillor Michael Vagnini. Walden is part of the federal
Sudbury electoral district, represented in the
House of Commons of Canada
The House of Commons of Canada (french: Chambre des communes du Canada) is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada.
The House of Common ...
by
Paul Lefebvre of the
Liberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada (french: Parti libéral du Canada, region=CA) is a federal political party in Canada. The party espouses the principles of liberalism,McCall, Christina; Stephen Clarkson"Liberal Party". ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' ...
, and the provincial constituency of
Nickel Belt
Nickel Belt is one of two federal electoral districts serving the city of Greater Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. It has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1953.
Geography
It consists of:
* the part of the Territorial District ...
, represented in the
Legislative Assembly of Ontario
The Legislative Assembly of Ontario (OLA, french: Assemblée législative de l'Ontario) is the legislative chamber of the Canadian province of Ontario. Its elected members are known as Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs). Bills passed by ...
by
France Gélinas
France Gélinas is a politician in Ontario, Canada. She is a New Democratic member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario who was elected in 2007. She represents the riding of Nickel Belt.
Background
Gélinas was born and raised in Shawinigan ...
of the
Ontario New Democratic Party
The Ontario New Democratic Party (french: link=no, Nouveau Parti démocratique de l'Ontario; abbr. ONDP or NDP) is a social-democratic political party in Ontario, Canada. The party currently forms the Official Opposition in Ontario following th ...
.
In the
Canada 2011 Census, the areas of Lively, Waters, Mikkola and Naughton were grouped for the first time as the ''population centre'' (or
urban area
An urban area, built-up area or urban agglomeration is a human settlement with a high population density and infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas are created through urbanization and are categorized by urban morphology as cities, t ...
) of Lively, with a population of 6,922 and a population density of 350.9/km
2. No separate population statistics were published for the more rural western portion of Walden, which was counted only as part of the city's overall census data; however, the individual census tracts corresponding to the former town of Walden had a total population of 10,664. For the
Canada 2016 Census
The 2016 Canadian census was an enumeration of Canadian residents, which counted a population of 35,151,728, a change from its 2011 population of 33,476,688. The census, conducted by Statistics Canada, was Canada's seventh quinquennial census ...
, the boundaries of the Lively population centre were revised to exclude Naughton, for a new population of 5,608 and an adjusted 2011 population of 5,584.
History
The town was created by amalgamating the
township municipalities of Waters and Drury, Dennison & Graham with the unincorporated geographic townships of Lorne, Louise and Dieppe and parts of the unincorporated townships of Hyman, Trill, Fairbank, Creighton, Snider and Eden. The name "Walden" was chosen as an acronym of ''Wa''ters, ''L''ively and ''Den''ison. Other names were suggested, but the final selection process had narrowed the naming options to Walden or Makada, an
Ojibwe
The Ojibwe, Ojibwa, Chippewa, or Saulteaux are an Anishinaabe people in what is currently southern Canada, the northern Midwestern United States, and Northern Plains.
According to the U.S. census, in the United States Ojibwe people are one of ...
name for the town's Black Lake (''makade'' in
contemporary spelling).
Tom Davies, who later became chair of the
Regional Municipality of Sudbury
The Regional Municipality of Sudbury was a Regional Municipality that existed in Ontario, Canada, from 1973 to 2000, and was primarily centred on the city of Sudbury. It served as an upper-tier level of municipal government, aggregating municipal ...
, was the first mayor of Walden as a town. Later mayors included Charles White, Terry Kett, Alex Fex and Dick Johnstone. Following Davies' retirement as chair of the regional municipality in 1997, Sudbury's city hall was renamed
Tom Davies Square
Tom Davies Square (french: Place Tom-Davies) is the city hall of Greater Sudbury, Ontario.
Built in the late 1970s and originally known as Civic Square or 'Place-Civique' in French, the building was part of an urban renewal movement toward transf ...
in his honour.
Prior to the municipal amalgamation, Walden was the largest town by land area in Canada.
Communities
Lively
![Lively ON](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/69/Lively_ON.JPG)
The administrative and commercial centre of Walden, Lively was established in the 1950s as a company townsite for employees of
INCO
Vale Canada Limited (formerly Vale Inco, CVRD Inco and Inco Limited; for corporate branding purposes simply known as "Vale" and pronounced in English) is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Brazilian mining company Vale. Vale's nickel mining and ...
's
Creighton Mine
Creighton Mine is an underground nickel, copper, and platinum-group elements (PGE) mine. It is presently owned and operated by Vale Limited (formerly known as INCO) in the city of Greater Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. Open pit mining began in 1901, an ...
facilities. It was named for an early settler, Charles Lively. Prior to the community's establishment, a few family farms were located in the area. The most notable of these, the Anderson Farm, is now the
Anderson Farm Museum, which showcases aspects of the history of Lively,
Creighton, and Waters Township. Lively's postal delivery and telephone exchange also include the Mikkola subdivision, located at the eastern terminus of
Highway 17's freeway segment, and the Waters area.
From the intersection of
Municipal Roads 24 and 55, Lively refers to the area extending north along MR 24, Mikkola refers to the area extending eastward along MR 55 toward the Highway 17 interchange, and Waters refers to the area extending westward along MR 55 toward Naughton.
Lively was the first area hit by the
Sudbury tornado
The Sudbury tornado was an F3 tornado, which hit the Canadian city of Sudbury, Ontario, at approximately 8:30 a.m. on Thursday, August 20, 1970.C.M. Wallace and Ashley Thomson, ''Sudbury: Rail Town to Regional Capital''. Dundurn Press, 1993. ...
on August 20, 1970.
Lively is also home to the Walden area's branch of the
Greater Sudbury Public Library
The Greater Sudbury Public Library is a public library system in Greater Sudbury, Ontario, Canada.
The library system has 13 branches throughout the city. The main branch is called "Mackenzie" and it is located on Mackenzie Street in the downtow ...
.
Their offices are on Black Lake Road and their second offices are on 9th avenue
Little Creighton
A small residential subdivision just north of Lively, long known as "Dogpatch", officially rebranded itself as Little Creighton in 2015.
Their offices are on the same campus as Jackson's auto repair
Naughton
![Naughton ON](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/da/Naughton_ON.JPG)
Naughton was originally established as a point along the
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 ...
Algoma Branch
The Huron Central Railway is a railway operating in northern Ontario, Canada. It is operated by Genesee & Wyoming Canada, the Canadian subsidiary of Genesee & Wyoming.
The Huron Central Railway was established in July 1997 to operate a route ...
and was named McNaughtonville.
In 1887, the
Hudson's Bay Company
The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC; french: Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson) is a Canadian retail business group. A fur trading business for much of its existence, HBC now owns and operates retail stores in Canada. The company's namesake business div ...
relocated its existing
trading post
A trading post, trading station, or trading house, also known as a factory, is an establishment or settlement where goods and services could be traded.
Typically the location of the trading post would allow people from one geographic area to tr ...
from
Whitefish Lake to the south, which had been established in 1824, to Naughton, so that it could be closer to the CPR line.
The trading post closed in 1896, and during the 1920s and 1930s, many of the original buildings at the trading post site were demolished or burned down, though the store itself survived until at least the 1960s.
Naughton is the birthplace of
Boston Bruins
The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team has been in existence since 1924, making t ...
legend
Art Ross
Arthur Howe Ross (January 13, 1885 – August 5, 1964) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player and executive from 1905 until 1954. Regarded as one of the best defenders of his era by his peers, he was one of the first to skate with the puck ...
, who was the son of Thomas B. Ross, the trading post's
postmaster
A postmaster is the head of an individual post office, responsible for all postal activities in a specific post office. When a postmaster is responsible for an entire mail distribution organization (usually sponsored by a national government), ...
in 1881.
In 1947, Ross donated the
NHL
The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...
trophy bearing his name awarded to the player scoring the most points during the season. Ross was also inducted into the
Hockey Hall of Fame
, logo = Hockey Hall of Fame Logo.svg
, logo_upright = 0.5
, image = Hockey Hall of Fame, Toronto.jpg
, caption = The Hall's present location on Yonge Street since 1992
, map_type =
, former_name =
, established = 1943
, location = 30 Y ...
in 1945.
Naughton is also home to a number of historical plaques commemorating
Salter's Meridian, a survey line which resulted in the first known evidence of the Sudbury area's massive
mineral
In geology and mineralogy, a mineral or mineral species is, broadly speaking, a solid chemical compound with a fairly well-defined chemical composition and a specific crystal structure that occurs naturally in pure form.John P. Rafferty, ed. ( ...
deposits, as well the
Hudson's Bay Company
The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC; french: Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson) is a Canadian retail business group. A fur trading business for much of its existence, HBC now owns and operates retail stores in Canada. The company's namesake business div ...
's Whitefish Lake Trading Post. Naughton is also home to the Walden Cross Country Ski Club, of which sports the ParaNordic program (an organization that allows children with disabilities to cross-country ski in a familiar environment and race with others of their skill levels.) It was also home to the now-defunct ''Sparks AC'', an affiliate of the Finnish-Canadian Amateur Sports Federation.
The offices are located in the former our lady of Fatima school
Whitefish
![Whitefish CPR 1911](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8c/Whitefish_CPR_1911.jpg)
Whitefish is located approximately west of Lively, near the western terminus of the Highway 17 freeway route. Whitefish's postal delivery and telephone exchange also include the community of Den-Lou, which is named for its location straddling the boundaries of the geographic townships of Dennison and Louise, and the
Lake Panache
Lake Panache is a lake in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is located in the Sudbury District, although a small portion of the lake lies within the southernmost city limits of Greater Sudbury, approximately 10 kilometres south of the community ...
area. Currently, the
Ontario Ministry of Transportation
The Ministry of Transportation (MTO) is the provincial ministry of the Government of Ontario that is responsible for transport infrastructure and related law in Ontario. The ministry traces its roots back over a century to the 1890s, when the pro ...
is undergoing discussion in regards to extending the freeway through Den-Lou. As of 2016, Whitefish had a population of 219 people in 100 households.
Historically, Whitefish was a
postal village A postal village or post-village (p.v., P.V., PV or p-v) is generally a settlement that has a post office.
Definition and abbreviation
In North American usage, the term "post village" refers to a small community (a village) which has a post office. ...
along the
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 ...
's Sudbury-Soo line, which ran parallel to the south of the
Algoma Eastern Railway
The Algoma Eastern Railway was a railway in Northeastern Ontario, Canada. Originally known as the Manitoulin and North Shore Railway (M&NS) with a charter dating back to 1888, the full mainline was opened to traffic in 1913, serving the area al ...
(AER). Its station was situated along the line west of Naughton and east of Victoria Mines, where a junction and spur line connected it to the AER. In 1908, it had a recorded population of 150, and had two stores, two hotels, and telegraph and express offices. Today, the main heritage building in the community is the Penage Hotel, which after its past as a railway hotel, functioned in various capacities as a hair salon, a bar, apartments, and a convenience store.
The community was home to the Whitefish ''Kipinä AC'' (later ''Speed AC''), a youth sports club which was an affiliate of the Finnish-Canadian Amateur Sports Federation.
the offices are located east of Whitefish
Beaver Lake
![Former Beaver Lake General Store](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d1/Former_Beaver_Lake_General_Store.jpg)
The name "Beaver Lake" refers, generally, to the westernmost end of the former Town of Walden, along
Highway 17 in the
geographic township
The term township, in Canada, is generally the district or area associated with a town. The specific use of the term to describe political subdivisions has varied by country, usually to describe a local rural or semirural government within the co ...
of Lorne, west of Whitefish. Like many communities in Northern Ontario, the modern history of Beaver Lake started with the building of the
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 ...
through the area in the late 1880s. With the discovery of nickel deposits bringing jobs and settlers to the Sudbury area,
Finnish
Finnish may refer to:
* Something or someone from, or related to Finland
* Culture of Finland
* Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland
* Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people
* Finnish cuisine
See also ...
immigrants in particular settled in the Beaver Lake area, south of the CPR line between Sudbury and
Sault Ste. Marie, establishing farming homesteads centred around the lake and mostly producing milk as an export. The milk was often shipped by rail to ''Co-optas'' (in
Copper Cliff
This is a list of neighbourhoods in the urban core of Greater Sudbury, Ontario. This list includes only those neighbourhoods that fall within the pre-2001 city limits of Sudbury — for communities within the former suburban municipalities, see t ...
) and later the Sudbury Producers and Consumers (P&C) Co-Operative Dairy, both local dairy co-operatives started and mostly operated by Finns and supported by the Finnish dairy farmers in the region. Later, the milk was processed by the Copper Cliff Dairy.
The Beaver Lake farms were hurt financially by the
Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
and the aging group of original settlers had mostly shut down their working farms by the 1950s, with many of the lots being subdivided and sold off. Nevertheless, many of their descendants continue to live in the area, which is heavily influenced by Finnish culture, though the single-room schoolhouse and general store were both casualties of this community crisis.
The community was also known for its ''Jehu AC'' youth athletics club, which was an affiliate of the Finnish-Canadian Amateur Sports Federation (FCASF). Founded in 1921, club members won victories while competing against athletes from Sudbury, Creighton,
Timmins
Timmins ( ) is a city in northeastern Ontario, Canada, located on the Mattagami River. The city is the fourth-largest city in the Northeastern Ontario region with a population of 41,145 (2021). The city's economy is based on natural resource ext ...
, and
South Porcupine
The city of Timmins, Ontario, Canada contains many named neighbourhoods. Some former municipalities that were merged into Timmins continue to be treated as distinct postal and telephone exchanges from the city core.
According to Barnes, "With the ...
, as well as many other communities. ''Jehu AC'' was known for its dominance in
cross-country skiing
Cross-country skiing is a form of skiing where skiers rely on their own locomotion to move across snow-covered terrain, rather than using ski lifts or other forms of assistance. Cross-country skiing is widely practiced as a sport and recreation ...
, a sport which Finnish settlers had brought with them to Canada and which was popularized by Finnish athletics clubs before its general acceptance as a Canadian sport. This was evident as late as 1961, when Beaver Lake athletes won five out of nine cross-country ski events at the Port Arthur (now
Thunder Bay
Thunder Bay is a city in and the seat of Thunder Bay District, Ontario, Canada. It is the most populous municipality in Northwestern Ontario and the second most populous (after Greater Sudbury) municipality in Northern Ontario; its population ...
) FCASF championship. As the population aged and youth left the community to seek economic opportunities, the club membership began to shrink. Its last event took place in 1969, after which it would sell its sports field to the Beaver Lake Sports and Cultural Club.
Today, the club's grounds mark the entry point for the Beaver Lake ski trails, which loop around and exit back at the club.
Their offices are located east of Beaver lake
Worthington
Mining disaster
The Worthington Mine ore body was initially discovered in 1884 by
Francis Charles Crean. In 1891, the first mine shaft was sunk,
with a small community being incorporated nearby the following year which was named after the
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 ...
construction superintendent James Worthington, notable as the person responsible for the naming of Sudbury after his wife's hometown in England. At this time, it was operated by the
Dominion Mineral Company
The term ''Dominion'' is used to refer to one of several self-governing nations of the British Empire.
"Dominion status" was first accorded to Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Newfoundland, South Africa, and the Irish Free State at the 1926 Im ...
with two shafts at depths of 35 and 95 feet. In 1894, however, mining operations at the site were suspended. Development began in 1907 to modernize the mine's equipment, but was suspended in 1909. The troubled mine was acquired by the
Mond Nickel Company
The Mond Nickel Company Limited was a United Kingdom-based mining company, formed on September 20, 1900, licensed in Canada to carry on business in the province of Ontario, from October 16, 1900. The firm was founded by Ludwig Mond (1839-1909) to p ...
in 1913 as Mond abandoned its previous operations at Victoria Mines. Mond quickly sank a third shaft to a depth of 200 feet, completed modernization of the mine's equipment, and built several workers' cottages at the site to help house its 110-man workforce. The mine became operational and by 1917 had shipped 172,000 tons of ore, the majority of which was sold to the CPR to be used as
track ballast
Track ballast forms the trackbed upon which railroad ties (sleepers) are laid. It is packed between, below, and around the ties. It is used to bear the load from the railroad ties, to facilitate drainage of water, and also to keep down vegetat ...
rather than being sent to Mond's Coniston smelter. In 1918, Mond continued its rapid development of the mine by deepening the third shaft to about 750 feet, developing existing mine shaft areas, and expanding its workforce to 220 men, while internally expanding the mine using a
shrinkage stoping method. The following year, it upgraded the air compressor on the site with one originally located at the Frood Extension mine. Mond's rapid development of the mine created a pillar of natural rock. As ore was extracted, workers underground observed cracks in this pillar, which Mond addressed with timbers to brace it. Undaunted, Mond continued its plans to deepen the shaft to 1000 feet and continued to extract ore from the upper levels.
On October 3, 1927, abnormal rock shifts were observed and management made the decision to evacuate the 46 day shift workers underground and cancel the night shift. Additionally, the town of Worthington was also evacuated as a precaution. At 5:50 a.m. on October 4, a ground fault gave way, which caused the entire underground portion of the mine to collapse down to its fifth level (the 750-foot level), creating a crater which pulled into itself the mine's power house, a worker's home, and 500 feet of CPR mainline track. With no injuries suffered, the disaster became an overnight sensation which attracted sightseers, and the crater left by the mine quickly filled with water and became an artificial lake. The mine was no longer deemed operational and was abandoned, though some buildings were still left standing including the headframe.
Nearby, the
Totten Mine Totten may refer to:
Places
* Totten (mountain), a mountain in Hemsedal, Norway
* Fort Totten (disambiguation)
* Totten Glacier, Antarctica
* Totten Inlet, Puget Sound, Washington, United States
* Totten Key, island in the Florida Keys, United Stat ...
is currently under active operation after its own history of sustained closures and periods of operation, being originally operated from 1915 to 1917 by the
Canadian Nickel Company, briefly revived in the 1950s-1960s with
Inco
Vale Canada Limited (formerly Vale Inco, CVRD Inco and Inco Limited; for corporate branding purposes simply known as "Vale" and pronounced in English) is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Brazilian mining company Vale. Vale's nickel mining and ...
exploration work and new shafts being sunk, but developments were abandoned in 1971 and the mine was allowed to flood in 1976. In 2007,
Vale Limited
Vale Canada Limited (formerly Vale Inco, CVRD Inco and Inco Limited; for corporate branding purposes simply known as "Vale" and pronounced in English) is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Brazilian mining company Vale. Vale's nickel mining and ...
began to rehabilitate the existing mine, which was reopened in 2014.
Community
![Worthington_mine_and_station_c_1920](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1b/Worthington_mine_and_station_c_1920.jpg)
Worthington was established as a community in 1892 and functioned as a basic settlement with 35 dwellings, a company store, a railway station and a post office. By 1910, there were several more establishments including a hotel and social hall. Its population gradually increased to a peak of 400-500 residents after the Mond company purchased the nearby mine and expanded its workforce. After the infamous mining disaster nearby, the original townsite was abandoned and many residents left; however, a new townsite was established in alignment with the highway to the north, and throughout the 1930s and 40s, it primarily functioned as a highway service outlet. In the 1950s, the community had a brief revival due to resumed mining activity at the Kidd-Copper and Totten mines, and the highway nearby was designated
Ontario Highway 658
Secondary Highway 658, commonly referred to as Highway 658, is a provincially maintained highway in the Canadian province of Ontario, located in Kenora District. The highway extends between the city of Kenora and the community of Redditt. For a ...
in 1968. However, the community was bypassed to the south by
Ontario Highway 17
King's Highway 17, more commonly known as Highway 17, is a provincially maintained highway and the primary route of the Trans-Canada Highway through the Canadian province of Ontario. It begins at the Manitoba boundary, west of Kenora, and the m ...
(forming a component of the
Trans-Canada Highway
The Trans-Canada Highway ( French: ; abbreviated as the TCH or T-Can) is a transcontinental federal–provincial highway system that travels through all ten provinces of Canada, from the Pacific Ocean on the west coast to the Atlantic Ocean o ...
), and Highway 658 was transferred by the province to the
Regional Municipality of Sudbury
The Regional Municipality of Sudbury was a Regional Municipality that existed in Ontario, Canada, from 1973 to 2000, and was primarily centred on the city of Sudbury. It served as an upper-tier level of municipal government, aggregating municipal ...
in 1973 upon amalgamation and became
Municipal Road 4, also known as Fairbank Lake Road. After this, the focal point of the settlement shifted south to align with Highway 17, bringing it closer to the community of Beaver Lake, and the longtime Worthington post office was relocated to Beaver Lake, though Worthington is still today a valid postal address which includes other communities like Beaver Lake, an indication of its historical status as the primary settlement east of
Nairn Centre and west of Whitefish.
Their offices are near Tottem Mine north of beaver lake
Creighton Mine
Creighton Mine, also known as simply Creighton, is located near the intersection of Municipal Road 24 and
Highway 144. The community, established in 1900 as an
INCO
Vale Canada Limited (formerly Vale Inco, CVRD Inco and Inco Limited; for corporate branding purposes simply known as "Vale" and pronounced in English) is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Brazilian mining company Vale. Vale's nickel mining and ...
company town, took its name from the geographic township in which it is located, which was named by the province of Ontario in the 1880s for
MPP
MPP or M.P.P. may refer to:
* Marginal physical product
* Master of Public Policy, an academic degree
* Member of Provincial Parliament (Ontario), Canada
* Member of Provincial Parliament (Western Cape), South Africa
* ''Merriweather Post Pavilion ...
David Creighton
David Creighton (April 1, 1843 – November 7, 1917) was an Ontario businessman and political figure. He represented Grey North in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1875 to 1890 as a Conservative member.
He was born in Glasgow, Sco ...
.
The town had a population of around 2,200 at its peak in the 1940s,
["Inco delivers death sentence to once-thriving town". '']The Globe and Mail
''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...
'', March 10, 1986. although the population slowly declined after improvements in the area's transportation networks made it easier for workers to live away from the company townsite.
In 1986, the town was closed down.
and all of the town's homes and businesses were torn down or moved to Lively.
Some residents initially fought the plan, but were not successful in convincing the company to change its plans.
Upgrading the town's water, sewer and road systems to contemporary standards would have cost the company over $10 million,
a cost which the company deemed to be prohibitive.
A few streets, sidewalks and building foundations can still be found in the area. A monument, shown at right, was also placed in the community.
The historic
paymaster
A paymaster is someone appointed by a group of buyers, sellers, investors or lenders to receive, hold, and dispense funds, commissions, fees, salaries (remuneration) or other trade, loan, or sales proceeds within the private sector or public secto ...
's cabin from Creighton was moved to the Anderson Farm Museum where an annual reunion continues to bring former residents and family together to share their memories of their former community.
The mine is also the site of the
Sudbury Neutrino Observatory
The Sudbury Neutrino Observatory (SNO) was a neutrino observatory located 2100 m underground in Vale's Creighton Mine in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. The detector was designed to detect solar neutrinos through their interactions with a large t ...
.
Their offices are in Water Tank Hill
High Falls
High Falls is a ghost town located near the junction of the
Spanish River with
Agnew Lake, at the westernmost boundary of the city.
The town was created in 1904, when a
hydroelectric
Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined and ...
dam and power plant were built on the Spanish River. This power plant, owned and operated by
Vale Limited
Vale Canada Limited (formerly Vale Inco, CVRD Inco and Inco Limited; for corporate branding purposes simply known as "Vale" and pronounced in English) is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Brazilian mining company Vale. Vale's nickel mining and ...
, supplied electric power to many of the area's mining towns, and is still operational today.
The town was closely connected to the nearby community of Turbine. However, in the 1960s, many families began to move away from the community for economic reasons, and by 1975 the community was virtually abandoned. Homes were demolished or relocated, and by the mid-1980s the power plant was the only remaining vestige of the community.
their offices are located east of levack and west of dowling
Victoria Mines
Victoria Mines is a ghost town. It was established by the Anglo-German chemist and industrialist
Ludwig Mond
Ludwig Mond FRS (7 March 1839 – 11 December 1909) was a German-born, British chemist and industrialist. He discovered an important, previously unknown, class of compounds called metal carbonyls.
Education and career
Ludwig Mond was born i ...
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 ...
for his
Mond Nickel Company
The Mond Nickel Company Limited was a United Kingdom-based mining company, formed on September 20, 1900, licensed in Canada to carry on business in the province of Ontario, from October 16, 1900. The firm was founded by Ludwig Mond (1839-1909) to p ...
for workers at the smelter that processed ore from his
Mond Mine. A separate townsite of Mond was established at the mine itself, and the two communities are sometimes referred to as a single settlement known variously as Mond or Victoria Mines.
Operations at the mine began in 1899 and were in full swing by 1901. Meanwhile, a smelter had been built two miles to the south of the mine, on the
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 ...
's
Sault Ste. Marie branch, which processed ore from the nearby mine site as well as from the
Garson and Worthington mines. Production at the smelter initially employed 20 men, using
steam power
A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a cylinder. This pushing force can be trans ...
; by 1911, the workforce had grown to 200 men.
In 1909, the smelter was connected to the
Lorne Falls power plant and switched to electric power, leading to more than a doubling in ore capacity.
Additional power arrived in 1916 from the Nairn Falls hydroelectric plant.
In these early years, the town, which was laid out to the north of the CPR line, grew rapidly, receiving a post office in 1900, a CPR passenger station in 1904 (enlarged in 1908), and an assortment of businesses and services, which included a butcher shop, barbershop, dry goods and grocery retailers, a bowling alley, a
Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
church, a
Presbyterian
Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...
church, and public and
separate school
In Canada, a separate school is a type of school that has constitutional status in three provinces (Ontario, Alberta and Saskatchewan) and statutory status in the three territories ( Northwest Territories, Yukon and Nunavut). In these Canadi ...
s.
Housing at the town included an apartment building, three boarding houses, and fifty single dwellings, which housed anywhere from 300 to 600 people in its heyday. During this time, the CPR built a spur line along the 3 km distance to the mine site itself. Ethnic groups at Mond included Finns, Ukrainians, Poles, Italians, French, and British,
and Victoria Mines had a small "Italian town".
Starting in the early 1910s, Mond Nickel had begun to expand its operations around the Sudbury area, and the Garson mine's output had outstripped the original Mond Mine's production. Mond opened a new smelter in
Coniston in 1913, which was closer to the other company-owned mines, as well as having a better connection to the CPR's new Toronto-to-Sudbury line. In the same year, the Victoria Mines smelter was closed. Many buildings were dismantled and moved by rail to Coniston or Worthington (itself now another ghost town), including the Anglican and Presbyterian churches which today still stand in Coniston. The public school was closed in 1914 and children of the remaining inhabitants were forced to walk 4.2 kilometers to the Mond public school, which remained open as the mine there was still active. During this time, all of the smelter workers relocated to Coniston, leaving behind only a hundred or so residents.
The townsite continued to be inhabited by a number of people for decades, ironically surviving longer than its twin town of Mond, which became a ghost town when the mine was closed a decade later in 1923, with the last house being removed in 1936. During its lifetime, the mine produced almost 620,000 tons of ore. A few buildings survived on the site well into the 1950s, but by the 1980s there were only three structures remaining, which were two company-built houses and the separate school. As of 2017, only one structure remains standing, a two-storey company house.
In 2002, mineral rights in the area were acquired by FNX, which merged with Quadra in 2011 to form
Quadra FNX Mining
Quadra FNX Mining Ltd was a Vancouver, British Columbia-based company that produced copper, nickel, platinum, palladium, gold, cobalt, and molybdenum with operations in Nevada, Arizona, Chile, Greenland, and the Sudbury Basin, Ontario, Canada.
Q ...
. Quadra FNX was in turn acquired by Polish conglomerate
KGHM Polska Miedź
KGHM Polska Miedź S.A. (Kombinat Górniczo-Hutniczy Miedzi), commonly known as KGHM, is a Polish multinational corporation that employs around 34,000 people around the world and has been a major copper and silver producer for more than 50 years. ...
in 2011, which inherited the claims. Construction was slated to begin on a new mine by 2015 with operations to begin in 2019, but KGHM slowed down its development at the site due to depressed metal prices. As of early 2019, the project was still at pre-environmental assessment stage.
Victoria Mines is the birthplace of
Hockey Hall of Fame
, logo = Hockey Hall of Fame Logo.svg
, logo_upright = 0.5
, image = Hockey Hall of Fame, Toronto.jpg
, caption = The Hall's present location on Yonge Street since 1992
, map_type =
, former_name =
, established = 1943
, location = 30 Y ...
r
Hector "Toe" Blake, though he grew up largely in Coniston.
Transportation
Some of Walden's various communities are served by
GOVA
GOVA, formerly known as Greater Sudbury Transit, is a public transport authority that is responsible for serving bus routes in Greater Sudbury, Ontario, Canada and area. The network is the largest in Northern Ontario, comprising 41 routes operati ...
's 101 Lively bus, which departs Naughton Community Centre for the downtown Sudbury transit terminal approximately every 2 hours, though there is more frequent service on weekday mornings. Along the way, it stops throughout Lively, Copper Cliff, and the west end of Sudbury, before terminating at the South End transit hub. As of 2019, there is no local bus service to the communities further to the west, such as Whitefish and Beaver Lake; however, GOVA also operates an auxiliary taxi service which covers as far as Whitefish.
No intercity transit is available in the Walden area despite most of its communities being situated along the
Trans-Canada Highway
The Trans-Canada Highway ( French: ; abbreviated as the TCH or T-Can) is a transcontinental federal–provincial highway system that travels through all ten provinces of Canada, from the Pacific Ocean on the west coast to the Atlantic Ocean o ...
. The closest intercity transit to the area is in downtown Sudbury, or alternatively an
Ontario Northland
The Ontario Northland Transportation Commission (ONTC), or simply Ontario Northland, is a Crown agency of the Government of Ontario responsible for providing transportation services for passengers and goods in northern Ontario. It reports to ...
flag stop in
Nairn Centre.
Education
Those in the English catholic stream attend St-James and St-Benedict. Those in the English public stream attend Walden Public school, Lively secondary school, and RH Murray for Whitefish. Those in the French public stream attend Helene Gravel and Macdonald Cartier. Those in the French catholic stream attend St-Paul and Sacré Coeur.
Media
Walden is served by a monthly newspaper, ''Walden Today'', which started in May 2011, and was formerly served by a weekly community newspaper, the ''Walden Observer'', which is no longer in production.
Walden is otherwise served by
citywide media, although its proximity to the
North Shore region means that residents of Whitefish, Beaver Lake and Worthington also have access to several radio stations, including
CJJM-FM
CJJM-FM is a Canadian radio station, broadcasting at 99.3 FM in Espanola, Ontario. The station currently airs an adult contemporary format and is branded on-air as ''Moose FM''. The station is owned by Vista Radio.
History
Originally owned by J ...
in
Espanola,
CFRM-FM
CFRM-FM is a Canadian radio station that broadcasts at 100.7 FM broadcasting, FM in Little Current, Ontario, Little Current, Ontario, serving Northeastern Manitoulin and the Islands. The station, a community radio outlet owned by Manitoulin Radio ...
in
Little Current and
CKNR-FM
CKNR-FM is a Canadian radio station, which broadcasts an adult contemporary format at 94.1 MHz in Elliot Lake, Ontario. The station uses the on-air brand ''Moose FM''.
History
The station first aired in 1967 at 1340 AM radio, AM, and was owned b ...
in
Elliot Lake
Elliot Lake is a city in Algoma District, Ontario, Canada. It is north of Lake Huron, midway between the cities of Sudbury and Sault Ste. Marie in the Northern Ontario region. Once dubbed the "uranium capital of the world," Elliot Lake has since ...
, whose signals do not reach the main urban core of Sudbury, as well as Espanola-area rebroadcasters of Sudbury's
CBCS-FM
CBCS-FM is a Canadian radio station. It is the CBC Radio One station in Sudbury, Ontario, broadcasting at 99.9 FM, and serves all of Northeastern Ontario through its network of relay transmitters. The station's studio is located at the CBC/Radi ...
and
CBON-FM
CBON-FM is a Canadian radio station. It broadcasts the Société Radio-Canada's Ici Radio-Canada Première network at 98.1 FM in Sudbury, Ontario. The station also serves much of Northern Ontario through a network of relay transmitters.
Histo ...
.
Notable people
*
Toe Blake
Toes are the digits (fingers) of the foot of a tetrapod. Animal species such as cats that walk on their toes are described as being ''digitigrade''. Humans, and other animals that walk on the soles of their feet, are described as being ''plant ...
was inducted into the
Hockey Hall of Fame
, logo = Hockey Hall of Fame Logo.svg
, logo_upright = 0.5
, image = Hockey Hall of Fame, Toronto.jpg
, caption = The Hall's present location on Yonge Street since 1992
, map_type =
, former_name =
, established = 1943
, location = 30 Y ...
as a coach and player.
*
Troy Crowder
Troy Crowder (born May 3, 1968) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey right winger who played parts of seven seasons in the National Hockey League with the New Jersey Devils, Detroit Red Wings, Los Angeles Kings, and Vancouver Canucks from ...
, drafted to the NHL in 1996, playing for the New Jersey Devils, Detroit Red Wings, Los Angeles Kings, and Vancouver Canucks from 1987–88 to 1996–97.
*
Bud Cullen
Jack Sydney George "Bud" Cullen, (April 20, 1927 – July 5, 2005) was a Canadian Federal Court judge and politician.
Early years
Born in Creighton Mine, Ontario, Cullen was given the nickname of Bud by his mother when he was a young boy. ...
, former Canadian Federal Judge and former MP for Sarnia-Lambton, was born in Creighton Mine, ON.
*
Andrew Desjardins
Andrew is the English form of a given name common in many countries. In the 1990s, it was among the top ten most popular names given to boys in English-speaking countries. "Andrew" is frequently shortened to "Andy" or "Drew". The word is derived ...
, drafted as a free agent in 2010 by the San Jose Sharks, currently playing for the Chicago Blackhawks.
*
Meagan Duhamel
Meagan Duhamel (born December 8, 1985) is a Canadian pair skater. With partner Eric Radford, she is a two-time world champion (2015, 2016), a 2018 Olympic gold medallist in the team event, a 2014 Olympic silver medallist in the team event, a 20 ...
, Canadian pairs figure skater, Olympic Gold Medalist-2018
*
France Gélinas
France Gélinas is a politician in Ontario, Canada. She is a New Democratic member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario who was elected in 2007. She represents the riding of Nickel Belt.
Background
Gélinas was born and raised in Shawinigan ...
, the current
Member of Provincial Parliament for
Nickel Belt
Nickel Belt is one of two federal electoral districts serving the city of Greater Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. It has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1953.
Geography
It consists of:
* the part of the Territorial District ...
, is a resident of Naughton.
*
Bud Germa
Melville Carlyle "Bud" Germa (August 5, 1920 — June 17, 1993) was a Canadian politician, who represented the electoral district of Sudbury from 1967 to 1968 in the House of Commons of Canada, and from 1971 to 1981 in the Legislative Assembly o ...
, former MPP for
Sudbury Sudbury may refer to:
Places Australia
* Sudbury Reef, Queensland
Canada
* Greater Sudbury, Ontario (official name; the city continues to be known simply as Sudbury for most purposes)
** Sudbury (electoral district), one of the city's federal e ...
.
References
External links
Walden Community Action NetworkHistory of Waldenat
Greater Sudbury Heritage Museums
The Greater Sudbury Museums are a network of four small community history museums in Greater Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. Three of the four are located on heritage properties in different neighbourhoods within the city, and the fourth is located in ...
{{authority control
Neighbourhoods in Greater Sudbury
Former towns in Ontario
Populated places established in 1973
Hudson's Bay Company trading posts
Populated places disestablished in 2000