Seguin Falls is a

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'' ...

and unincorporated place on the

Nipissing Colonization Road The colonization roads were created during the 1840s and 1850s to open up or provide access to areas in Central and Eastern Ontario for settlement and agricultural development. The colonization roads were used by settlers to lead them toward areas ...

in the township of Seguin,

Parry Sound District Parry Sound District is a census division of the Canadian province of Ontario. Its boundaries are District of Muskoka to the south, the Sudbury District to the north-northwest, the French River and Lake Nipissing in the north, Nipissing Distri ...

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 ...

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 ...

History

The portion of the Nipissing Road at Seguin Falls was opened to winter traffic by 1873 and passable to wheeled vehicles by 1875, and became the main route of travel between

Lake Rosseau Lake Rosseau is located in Ontario, Canada, about north of Toronto. The south end of the lake is in the Township of Muskoka Lakes, and the north end is in Seguin Township. The lake is surrounded by many cottages, some dating back to the late 1 ...

and

Lake Nipissing Lake Nipissing (; french: lac Nipissing, oj, Gichi-nibiinsing-zaaga’igan) is a lake in the Canadian province Within the geographical areas of Canada, the ten provinces and three territories are sub-national administrative divisions under ...

and points in between. The Nipissing Road lost its importance following the completion of the railway between Gravenhurst and

Callander Callander (; gd, Calasraid) is a small town in the council area of Stirling, Scotland, situated on the River Teith. The town is located in the historic county of Perthshire and is a popular tourist stop to and from the Highlands. The town ser ...

in 1886, and most of this section of the colonization road fell into a state of disrepair. The village of

Magnetawan Magnetawan is a township in the Almaguin Highlands region of the Parry Sound District in the Canadian province of Ontario, as well as the name of the primary population centre in the township. The Township of Magnetawan was formed in 1998 thro ...

was, by this time, more easily accessed from

Burk's Falls Burk's Falls is an incorporated village in the Almaguin Highlands region of Parry Sound District, Ontario, Canada, located north of Toronto and south of North Bay, Ontario. The village, and the waterfall on the site, were named (for himself) by ...

. It was not until a decade later that Seguin Falls developed as a village. During construction of the Ottawa, Arnprior and Parry Sound Railway, completed in 1896, a station was established where the line crossed the Nipissing Road. The importance of that portion of the former colonization road was restored as an access point from Seguin Falls to Magnetawan and remains as an active route for automobile traffic, to this day. Lumbering was likely carried on near Seguin Falls during the pre railway era with the construction of dams to regulate water levels, timber was driven down the

Seguin River The Seguin River is a river in Parry Sound District in central Ontario, Canada that empties into Parry Sound on Georgian Bay, Lake Huron at the town of Parry Sound. The river's name comes from the Ojibwe word ''ziigwan'', meaning "spring". Cours ...

more than 35 years before the building of the Ottawa, Arnprior & Parry Sound Railway. Timber usually became easier to access with the construction of a railway and it is possible that some uncut sawlogs were carried away by the trains to be processed elsewhere. The last

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes (dimensi ...

at Seguin Falls during the railway era was John Campbell & Sons', wound up during the summer of 1926. At that time J. D. Campbell was busy putting up a new mill on the CNR west of

Capreol Capreol ( ) is a community in the Ontario city of Greater Sudbury. 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 tow ...

. The King George Hotel, located about 100 yards from the railway station, was owned and operated by Thomas and Mary Jane McKinnon until 1957. In 1952 the rate for one of the six rooms (without bath) was $3.00 US. The King George was converted to a private home which subsequently burned down in 1989. The stone foundation, hearth and chimney still remain. The OA&PS Railway through Seguin Falls, locally known as the Grand Trunk was taken over by the

Grand Trunk Railway The Grand Trunk Railway (; french: Grand Tronc) was a railway system that operated in the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario and in the American states of Connecticut, Maine, Michigan, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont. The rai ...

in 1904, which was subsequently absorbed by

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 ...

s in 1923. That portion of the line between Falding and Scotia was abandoned in 1955. The old railway bed, now the Seguin Trail, is also part of the

Trans Canada Trail The Trans Canada Trail, officially named The Great Trail between September 2016 and June 2021, is a cross-Canada system of greenways, waterways, and roadways that stretches from the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean, Pacific to the A ...

References

External links

Ontario Ghost Towns - Seguin Falls
Ghost towns in Northern Ontario Communities in Parry Sound District {{Canada-ghost-town-stub