![Marmora ON 1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/42/Marmora_ON_1.JPG)
Marmora is the largest community in the Municipality of
Marmora and Lake
Marmora and Lake is a municipality along the banks of Crowe River and Beaver Creek, about midway between Toronto and Ottawa on provincial Highway 7 in Hastings County in Central Ontario, Canada. It is home to approximately 4,000 full time and se ...
in
Hastings County
Hastings County is located in the province of Ontario, Canada. Geographically, it is located on the border of Eastern Ontario and Central Ontario. Hastings County is the second-largest county in Ontario, after Renfrew County, and its county ...
,
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 ...
,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
. It is located on the
Crowe River
The Crowe River is a river in the counties of Haliburton, Hastings, Northumberland and Peterborough in southern Ontario, Canada. It is in the Lake Ontario drainage basin and is a tributary of the Trent River.
Course
The river begins at Paudash ...
and along
Highway 7 between
Havelock to the west and
Madoc
Madoc ab Owain Gwynedd (also spelled Madog) was, according to folklore, a Welsh prince who sailed to America in 1170, over three hundred years before Christopher Columbus's voyage in 1492.
According to the story, he was a son of Owain Gwyned ...
to the east, about the halfway point between Ottawa and Toronto.
History
The rich history of Marmora Township is the story of mining in
Eastern Ontario
Eastern Ontario (census population 1,763,186 in 2016) (french: Est de l'Ontario) is a secondary region of Southern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario which lies in a wedge-shaped area between the Ottawa River and St. Lawrence River. It s ...
. Since 1820 this Township has played a leading role in the development of iron mining. In addition, copper, lead, silver, gold and
lithographic limestone
Lithographic limestone is hard limestone that is sufficiently fine-grained, homogeneous and defect free to be used for lithography.
Geologists use the term "lithographic texture" to refer to a grain size under 1/250 mm.
The term "sublithog ...
have been extracted.
Iron
Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in f ...
mining was an important industry in the area during the 19th century. The village was originally named Marmora Iron Works.
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...
and
silver
Silver is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂erǵ-, ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, whi ...
were also mined at nearby
Cordova Mines. A nearby plant processes
talc
Talc, or talcum, is a Clay minerals, clay mineral, composed of hydrated magnesium silicate with the chemical formula Mg3Si4O10(OH)2. Talc in powdered form, often combined with corn starch, is used as baby powder. This mineral is used as a thi ...
and
dolomite Dolomite may refer to:
*Dolomite (mineral), a carbonate mineral
*Dolomite (rock), also known as dolostone, a sedimentary carbonate rock
*Dolomite, Alabama, United States, an unincorporated community
*Dolomite, California, United States, an unincor ...
.
In 1821, the newly surveyed townships of Elzevir, Madoc and Marmora were added to Hastings County, on the initiative of Charles Hayes, an Irish entrepreneur, in return for his setting up the Marmora Iron Works.
The new Township of Marmora took its name from the Latin word for
marble
Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite. Marble is typically not Foliation (geology), foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the ...
because of an "immense rock of most delicate white marble". This giant rock stood on the southeast corner of Crowe Lake, which took its name from the Crowe First Nations that lived along the shore.
Marmora Township was opened for sale in 1821, but there was little settlement outside of the newly created mining village.
The hamlet of Marmora was separated from the Township and incorporated as a village in 1901. It was re-amalgamated with the surrounding townships of Marmora and Lake in 2001 to form a newly expanded Municipality of Marmora and Lake.
Local attractions and events
Although mining and lumbering have been vital to the Township, agriculture has probably supported more people in the area since 1850. A remaining legacy of iron mining is the Marmora Open Pit Mine, a man-made wonder-lake surrounded by a barbed wire fence, seventy five acres in area, five hundred and fifty feet deep, filled with four hundred feet deep of clear blue spring water that is steadily rising to the top. This location is also a host to a variety of wildlife. The mine itself is filled with several hundred feet of water. The water originates from an underground spring which was exposed during mining operations.
Camping and other outdoor recreational activities such as
ATV trail riding, fishing, and hunting are very popular for locals and those on vacation. The Crowe River flows from Crowe Lake, which boasts excellent fishing for bass, muskie, pike, walleye, and a few other types of fish.
Home of Beautiful Glen Allan Park, a cottage and trailer resort since the early 1900s on the north shore of Crowe Lake.
Home to the scenic Crowe Valley Campground, located in town alongside the Crowe River.
A country
Jamboree is held in Marmora each year: the "Crowe Valley Jamboree" at the Marmora Fair Grounds in June. (In past years there was another Jamboree in September.)
Annual Marmora Area Canoe and Kayak Festival - Marmora and Lake is the host location as chosen by the Kawartha WhiteWater Paddlers. After a thorough river review throughout the province Marmora and Lake was chosen for its many rivers.
Home of The Classic Cruisers (
car show), running every Thursday at 6 pm throughout the summer.
Former attractions and events
From 1979 to 2017, Marmora SnoFest held the annual Marmora Cup
dog-sled races. A Committee of Council was established in 2005 to provide a more defined structure for the running and organizing of the historical event. A board of directors was then formed in 2007. With its hosting and running of sled dog races it makes the Marmora SnoFest, host of the Marmora Cup, the longest running event of its type in Canada.
Formerly annual festivities of Punk Fest led by Warren Hastings, a.k.a. Spider, were held here for several years before the township put them to an end, because they would not allow medics on site or supply washrooms/fresh water to the party-goers. "
Punk
Punk or punks may refer to:
Genres, subculture, and related aspects
* Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres
* Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...
s" and bands from all over the world traveled to Marmora for the weekend's events.
Former home of The Marmora Lakers Men's Senior AAA Hockey Team. It was sold in early 2008.
Notable residents
*
Yaphet Kotto
Yaphet Frederick Kotto (born Frederick Samuel Kotto; November 15, 1939 – March 15, 2021) was an American actor known for numerous film roles, as well as starring in the NBC television series '' Homicide: Life on the Street'' (1993–1999) as ...
- actor
* Sarah and Rob Skinner -
Red Dirt Skinners musical group
*
Greg Terrion
Patrick Gregory Terrion (May 2, 1960 – September 28, 2018) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player who played 561 games in the National Hockey League (NHL). His jersey number was 7 and he played for the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Los Ange ...
-
Toronto Maple Leafs
The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Div ...
hockey player
References
External links
Marmora Historical FoundationMunicipality of Marmora & LakeMarmora Medical Centre"Crowe Valley Jamboree"(2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, ...)
Marmora Crowe Valley Lions Club Country Jamboree(Archived.) (Final event was 2017.)
Marmora Crowe Valley Lions Country Jamboree(Archived.) (2006–2016)
Marmora Cup Dog-sled races at Marmora SnoFest(Final event was 2017.)
Crowe Valley Conservation AuthorityGoogle Maps Satellite Image
{{Authority control
Communities in Hastings County
Former villages in Ontario
Populated places disestablished in 2001