Gogama is a
Northeastern Ontario
Northeastern Ontario is a secondary region of Northern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario, which lies north of Lake Huron and east of Lake Superior.
Northeastern Ontario consists of the districts of Algoma, Sudbury, Cochrane, Timiska ...
community that is situated on Lake Minisinakwa, 580 kilometres north of
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
, 191 km north of
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 ...
, and 114 km south of
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 ...
. In the
Canada 2011 Census, a population of 277 people was recorded.
[ The community is counted as part of Sudbury, Unorganized, North Part in Canadian ]census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...
data. It is not an incorporated municipality, but is administered by a local services board A local services board (LSB) is an organization in the Canadian province of Ontario that is contracted by the Government of Ontario to provide municipal-level services in a community that is not part of an incorporated municipality.
Most local ser ...
.[
Recreational activities in the area include hunting and fishing.
]
History
Gogama is an Ojibway
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 ...
word meaning "jumping fish", likely in reference to the many fish that abound the waters of Lake Miniskawa
A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much larger ...
. A native 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 ...
was established in the area in the early 18th century. From 1911 to 1914, 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 ...
, was under construction through this area, now the CNR. Gogama was first settled in 1917 by Arthur L'Abbé. The post office was opened shortly after in 1919 and since, Gogama has relied heavily on the forestry industry although tourism is starting to benefit the hamlet as well.
During the era of railway construction, Gogama was likely a place of importance for the manufacture of Axe ties Axe ties are railway ties (or sleeper) that are hewn by hand, usually with a broadaxe. There are 2,900 ties per mile of track on a first class railroad. The early railways would not accept ties cut with a saw, as it was claimed that the kerf of the ...
. However, following that period, maintaining and upgrading the railway required a constant supply of ties TIES may refer to:
* TIES, Teacher Institute for Evolutionary Science
* TIES, The Interactive Encyclopedia System
* TIES, Time Independent Escape Sequence
* Theoretical Issues in Ergonomics Science
* The International Ecotourism Society
The Inter ...
. The handmade axe ties were phased out and replaced with creosote
Creosote is a category of carbonaceous chemicals formed by the distillation of various tars and pyrolysis of plant-derived material, such as wood or fossil fuel. They are typically used as preservatives or antiseptics.
Some creosote types were ...
treated ties. For the most part, this development followed World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
throughout Northern Ontario
Northern Ontario is a primary geographic and quasi-administrative region of the Canadian province of Ontario, the other primary region being Southern Ontario. Most of the core geographic region is located on part of the Superior Geological Provi ...
. At that same time, returning soldiers came to this area looking for work.
The first mill at Gogama was established in 1919, when W.H. Poupore contracted with the Harris Tie and Timber to supply the CNR with sawn ties. The mill produced all types of merchantable timber, but specialized in tie blocks. This mill was later taken over by Poupore's brother M.J.(Joe) Poupore. As orders for ties declined contracts were secured to supply mining timber for Falconbridge Falconbridge may refer to:
*Falconbridge Ltd., a Canadian mining company
*Falconbridge, Middlesex County, Ontario
*Falconbridge, Greater Sudbury, Ontario
People:
*Lord Falconbridge, an alternative title for barons, viscounts, and earls of Fauconbe ...
. Although the original mill burned in 1936, a new mill was erected at the mouth of the Nabakwasi River, in Togo Township, north of Gogama.
Another mill at Gogama was owned by Cochrane and Laforest and operated 1919 to 1932. It was sold to Acme Timber in 1932, but not reopened. See Pineland Timber, Foleyet
Foleyet is an unincorporated community in the Unorganized North Part of Sudbury District in Northeastern Ontario, Canada, midway between Chapleau and Timmins on Highway 101. The town was created during the construction of the Canadian Northern ...
.
In winter 2015, the town saw two nearby train derailment
In rail transport, a derailment occurs when a rail vehicle such as a train comes off its rails. Although many derailments are minor, all result in temporary disruption of the proper operation of the railway system and they are a potentially ...
s within less than one month. On February 14, seven rail cars carrying crude oil derailed approximately 30 kilometres from the town, and on March 8, 35 Canadian National Railway cars derailed at a site just four kilometres from the town, spilling crude into the Makami River and igniting an oil fire that took several days to extinguish. The two incidents sparked renewed debate on the effectiveness of Canada's rail safety regulations in the wake of the Lac-Mégantic rail disaster
The Lac-Mégantic rail disaster occurred in the town of Lac-Mégantic, Quebec, Canada, on July 6, 2013, at approximately 01:15 EDT, when an unattended 73-car Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway (MMA) freight train carrying Bakken Formation cr ...
of 2013.
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 ...
, Gogama had a population of 310 living in 154 of its 193 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 325. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.
Economy
The community currently relies heavily on eco-tourism including hunting and fishing.
Iamgold is currently in the process of obtaining permits to open the open pit Cote Gold Project. Construction is scheduled to commence in 2019 with production starting in 2021. Around 1,000 workers will be required during the construction phase. Once the mine starts producing, 400-500 people will be employed.["LET'S TALK: The Côté Gold Project Community Newsletter (August 2018)"]
'' Iamgold''. The company anticipates a 17-year lifespan for the mine[ with approximately 60,000 tonnes of ore production per day.]["Gogama mine project shines for IAMGOLD"]
''Timmins Daily Press
The ''Timmins Daily Press'' is a newspaper in Timmins, Ontario, which publishes six days a week. It is notable as the first paper founded by press baron Roy Thomson in the 1930s, who would eventually own more than 200 newspapers including ''The ...
'', January 8, 2013. The mine site will be located about 25 km southwest of Gogama and consist of an open-pit mine, tailings storage, a mill site and camp facilities.[
]
Transportation
Gogama is accessible from Highway 144 via Highway 661. 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 Gogama station. It is also served by 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 ...
's intercity motor coach service along its Sudbury–Timmins–Hearst route, with one coach per day northbound and one southbound.
Featured in film
Gogama is featured in a short educational film ''The Forest Commandos'', produced by Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Di ...
Pictures. The film is 19 minutes long. It was completed by Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Di ...
in September 1945 and released in January 1946. The film documents the operations of the former Forest Protection Service, of the Department of Lands & Forests, Province of Ontario, which was renamed the Ministry of Natural Resources (Ontario)
The Northern Development, Mines, Natural Resources and Forestry is a government ministry of the Canadian province of Ontario that is responsible for Ontario's provincial parks, forests, fisheries, wildlife, mineral aggregates and the Crown lands ...
in 1972. The film is specifically dedicated to the work of the bush pilots flying floatplanes, such as those manufactured by the Stinson Aircraft Company
The Stinson Aircraft Company was an aircraft manufacturing company in the United States between the 1920s and the 1950s.
History
The Stinson Aircraft Company was founded in Dayton, Ohio, in 1920 by aviator Edward “Eddie” Stinson, the b ...
, in support of forest fire suppression crews. A Second World War Royal Canadian Air Force
The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; french: Aviation royale canadienne, ARC) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environm ...
(RCAF) de Havilland Mosquito
The de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito is a British twin-engined, shoulder-winged, multirole combat aircraft, introduced during the Second World War. Unusual in that its frame was constructed mostly of wood, it was nicknamed the "Wooden Wonder", or ...
fighter-bomber is also show briefly taxiing on a runway. ''The Forest Commandos'' is occasionally aired on Turner Classic Movies
Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie channel, movie-oriented pay television, pay-TV television network, network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcasti ...
.
References
External links
Gogama, Ontario, Canada
{{authority control
Communities in Sudbury District
Designated places in Ontario
Local services boards in Ontario
Hudson's Bay Company trading posts
Timber industry in Canada