Capreol ( ) is a community in the

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 ...

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 ...

. Situated on the Vermilion River (35 mins north of the downtown core), Capreol is the city's northernmost populated area. From 1918 to 2000, Capreol existed as an independent town. However, on January 1, 2001, the towns and cities 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 ...

were amalgamated into the single-tier city of Greater Sudbury.

History

Early settlement, development and expansion

Capreol formed around the

Capreol railway station Capreol railway station, located in the community of Capreol, Greater Sudbury, Ontario, Canada, is a stop for Via Rail's transcontinental ''The Canadian'' passenger rail service. The station building was constructed in 1915 by the Canadian Nort ...

, which was a major

divisional point In Canada, a divisional point (or division point) is a local operational headquarters for a railway. Divisional points are significant in railway maintenance of way operations. Especially historically, they could be the location of facilities and in ...

on the

Canadian National Railway The Canadian National Railway Company (french: Compagnie des chemins de fer nationaux du Canada) is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States. CN i ...

line. Its name comes from

Frederick Chase Capreol Frederick Chase Capreol (10 June 1803 – 12 October 1886) was an English-born Canadians, Canadian businessman and railway promoter. He is noted for having promoted the construction of the Toronto, Simcoe & Lake Huron Union Railroad (rename ...

, the original promoter of the

Northern Railway of Canada The Northern Railway of Canada was a railway in the province of Ontario, Canada. It was the first steam railway to enter service in what was then known as Upper Canada. It was eventually acquired by the Grand Trunk Railway, and is therefore a ...

. It was founded in 1911 and incorporated as a town in 1918. The first family to move into Capreol was Adolph and Margaret Sawyer, both of whom pioneered in farming. Although the town was originally an independent community with its own thriving economy, it gradually became a satellite community to the more rapidly growing city of Sudbury, approximately 40 kilometres to the south. In 1916, there were thirty families in town, and by 1919, sixty houses had been built. It was then decided that Capreol would build its own

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams in London, originally ...

. In 1920, the construction of the YMCA was in progress, but was damaged by fire, to the extent of $40,000. The YMCA was rebuilt at double the cost and finally opened in 1921. In 1973, the boundaries of the town of Capreol were expanded to include the nearby villages of Sellwood and Milnet, and the town was incorporated into the

. However, despite its status as part of the regional municipality, during this era

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 ...

did not include the town in Sudbury's

Census Metropolitan Area The census geographic units of Canada are the census subdivisions defined and used by Canada's federal government statistics bureau Statistics Canada to conduct the country's quinquennial census. These areas exist solely for the purposes of sta ...

Amalgamation

On January 1, 2001, Capreol and the other cities and towns of the regional municipality were amalgamated into the city of Greater Sudbury. In the Canada 2011 Census, Capreol was listed for the first time as one of six distinct population centres (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 ...

s) within the city, with a population of 3,276 and a population density of 537.7 km²;Canada 2011 Census Community Profiles: Population Centre of Capreol

. however, the boundaries of this statistical aggregation correspond only to the main townsite of Capreol, and not to the full municipal boundaries as they existed prior to 2001. The community is part of Ward 7 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 Mike Jakubo.

Sports and culture

Capreol is the location of the

Northern Ontario Railroad Museum The Northern Ontario Railroad Museum and Heritage Centre is a rail transport museum located in the community of Capreol in Greater Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. The museum's mandate states it is, "focused on the preservation of historical artifacts t ...

, a heritage attraction located in the former CN and CNoR superintendent's home and Prescott Park, taking up a large portion of the town's downtown core parallel to the railroad tracks. From 1978 to 1986, Capreol had a

Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League The Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League (NOJHL) is a Canadian Junior ice hockey league and member of the Canadian Junior Hockey League and Northern Ontario Hockey Association. The winner of the NOJHL playoffs competes for the Dudley Hewitt Cup ...

team called the

Capreol Hawks The Capreol Hawks were a Tier II Junior "A" ice hockey team from Capreol, Ontario, Canada. This defunct hockey team was a part of the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League The Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League (NOJHL) is a Canadian Junior i ...

, who won the league title in 1980-81.

Transportation

Capreol has a long history as a Northern Ontario

railway town A railway town, or railroad town, is a settlement that originated or was greatly developed because of a railway station or junction at its site. North America During the construction of the First transcontinental railroad in the 1860s, temporar ...

and is today still situated along the

mainline. It is served by 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 ...

'', Canada's transcontinental passenger rail service, which is operated by

Via Rail Via Rail Canada Inc. (), operating as Via Rail or Via, is a Canadian Crown corporation that is mandated to operate intercity passenger rail service in Canada. It receives an annual subsidy from Transport Canada to offset the cost of operating ...

and which stops at

Capreol station Capreol railway station, located in the community of Capreol, Greater Sudbury, Ontario, Canada, is a stop for Via Rail's transcontinental '' The Canadian'' passenger rail service. The station building was constructed in 1915 by the Canadian Nort ...

. Capreol station marks the ''Canadians last north- and west-bound stop in Greater Sudbury before continuing its journey toward

Northwestern Ontario Northwestern Ontario is a secondary region of Northern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario which lies north and west of Lake Superior and west of Hudson Bay and James Bay. It includes most of subarctic Ontario. Its western boundary is the ...

and, ultimately,

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

. Local bus service is available in Capreol via

Greater Sudbury Transit 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 105 Valley Route, which connects with downtown Sudbury and the Sudbury Transit Centre.

Ghost towns

The former villages of Milnet and Sellwood, located within the area annexed by Capreol in 1973, are both now

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'' ...

s. Milnet (originally named Sellwood Junction up to 1916) began as a stop along the

Canadian Northern Railway The Canadian Northern Railway (CNoR) was a historic Canadian transcontinental railway. At its 1923 merger into the Canadian National Railway , the CNoR owned a main line between Quebec City and Vancouver via Ottawa, Winnipeg, and Edmonton. Mani ...

. In 1917, after the railway was laid down, the Marshay Lumber Company built a mill and began a 22-year process of cutting trees from the area. Men from logging camps upstream would let the Vermilion River carry the logs to the mill in Milnet. From there the men at the

mill Mill may refer to: Science and technology * * Mill (grinding) * Milling (machining) * Millwork * Textile mill * Steel mill, a factory for the manufacture of steel * List of types of mill * Mill, the arithmetic unit of the Analytical Engine early ...

would cut the wood on the blade and then move it along to the planar mill. An

open pit mine Open-pit mining, also known as open-cast or open-cut mining and in larger contexts mega-mining, is a surface mining technique of extracting rock or minerals from the earth from an open-air pit, sometimes known as a borrow. This form of mining ...

now stands where the Sellwood townsite once was.

Former mayors

* P. Kilgour - 1927-1928 * B. M. Robinson - 1931 * Willam Gibson - 1932-1935 * James E. Coyne - 1936-1943 * Willam Gibson - 1944-1946 * Alistair MacLean - 1947-1952 * William Gibson - 1953-1954 * Harold Prescott - 1955-1969 *

Norman Fawcett Norman Edward Fawcett (July 29, 1910 – January 26, 1997) was a Canadian politician, who represented the riding of Nickel Belt in the House of Commons of Canada from 1965 to 1968. He was a member of the New Democratic Party of Canada. He ...

- 1969-1973 * Harold Prescott - 1973-1975 * Frank Mazzuca - 1975-1997 * Dave Kilgour - 1997-2000

Notable residents

* Jean Robert Beaulé, politician * Fred Boimistruck, NHL hockey player * Joffre Desilets, NHL hockey player *

, politician *

Pete Horeck Peter "Pistol Pete" Horeck (June 15, 1923 — August 29, 2009) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player who played in the National Hockey League for the Chicago Black Hawks, Detroit Red Wings, and Boston Bruins between 1944 and 1952. Early l ...

, NHL hockey player *

Elie Martel Elie Walter Martel (born November 26, 1934) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1967 to 1987, as a member of the New Democratic Party (NDP). Personal life Martel was born in Capreol, ...

, politician *

Rob MacDonald Robert Lawrence MacDonald (born September 5, 1978) is a Canadian mixed martial artist. From 2002 until 2009, he competed in various high-profile promotions including the UFC, Maximum Fighting Championship, and was a competitor on '' The Ultimat ...

, mixed martial artist *

Shelley Martel Shelley Dawn Marie Martel (born April 8, 1963) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. She was a New Democratic member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1987 to 2007. She represented the ridings of Sudbury East and Nickel Belt. She ...

, politician * Frank Mazzuca Sr., politician * Mike Miron, lacrosse player *

Doug Mohns Douglas Allen "Diesel" Mohns (December 13, 1933 – February 7, 2014) was a professional ice hockey player who played 22 seasons in the National Hockey League from 1953–54 until 1974–75. Mohns twice won the most coveted prize in junior hocke ...

, NHL hockey player *

Allan Patterson Reginald Allan Patterson (July 12, 1919 in Ottawa, Ontario - July 23, 2009 in Winnipeg, Manitoba) was a politician in the Canadian province of Manitoba. He was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1988 to 1990, representing ...

, politician * Donald Bartlett Reid, politician *

Barbara Tyson Barbara Tyson (born October 1, 1964) is a Canadian actress known for appearing in hit TV series '' Neon Rider'', ''Cold Squad'', '' ER'' and ''The Twilight Zone''. One of her first notable television roles was in '' Another World'' as Dawn "Ivy" ...

, actress

Images

File:Capreol ON 3.JPG, Young Street File:Northern Ontario Railroad Museum Building.JPG, Northern Ontario Railroad Museum File:CN 6077.JPG, CN 6077 'Mountain Class' 4-8-2, preserved at the Northern Ontario Railroad Museum and Heritage Park, Capreol. File:CN6077 motion work, Walschaerts valve gear..JPG, Motion work of Mountain class 4-8-2 CN 6077.

References

External links

Capreol OnlineCapreol's Information PagesHistory of Capreol
at

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 Populated places established in 1918 Populated places disestablished in 2000 Former towns in Ontario Railway towns in Ontario