Gagnon, Quebec 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), an American Western film by Harry L. Fraser * ''Ghost Town'' (1956 film), an American Western film by All ...

on Barbel Lake, formerly a

mining Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the econom ...

town, in the

Côte-Nord Côte-Nord (, ; ; land area ) is the second-largest administrative region by land area in Quebec, Canada, after Nord-du-Québec. It covers much of the northern shore of the Saint Lawrence River estuary and the Gulf of Saint Lawrence past T ...

region of

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirte ...

, Canada. Formerly a city, it was dissolved and annexed to the unorganized territory of Rivière-Mouchalagane on May 31, 1991.

History

Gagnon was founded by the

Québec Cartier Mining Company Québec Cartier Mining Company was one of the leading producers of iron ore products in North America, now part of ArcelorMittal. The company was founded in the late 1950s by multiple Canadian and American investors, based in Quebec, Canada. The ...

for the purposes of mining

iron ore Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the ...

at Jeannine Lake. In the winter of 1957, the first plane arrived, bringing materials to build a pilot plant. By August of that year, the plant had processed a thousand tons of ore. On January 28, 1960, it was incorporated as ''Ville de Gagnon'' and named after

Onésime Gagnon Onésime Gagnon, (October 23, 1888 – September 30, 1961) was a Canadian politician who served as the 20th Lieutenant Governor of Québec. Background He was born in Saint-Léon-de-Standon, Quebec, on October 23, 1888, and was the son of Oné ...

, the first Minister of Mining in Quebec. In the summer of 1960, a large forest fire came within of the town, prompting the evacuation of women and children. Thereafter it rapidly grew to 1300 inhabitants by the end of that year, and at its peak, Gagnon had more than 4000 residents. It had an airport, churches, schools, a town hall, an arena, a hospital, and a large commercial centre, despite being isolated and only accessible by plane. In 1974, mining began at

Fire Lake "Fire Lake" is a song written and recorded by the American musical artist Bob Seger. He had planned to record "Fire Lake" for his 1975 album '' Beautiful Loser'', but the track was not finished. The song had been partly written years before, in 1 ...

, some north-east of Gagnon, while the Jeannine Lake Mine closed in 1977. By the mid-1980s however, following the iron crisis of 1982, it was no longer turning a profit. The mines were closed and the town fully dismantled in 1985. All buildings and nearly all of the streets were dismantled. The town's main street and the airport's runway are all that remains. The main street became part of Route 389 two years after the town's closure. That section of highway retains a boulevard configuration, complete with a median, sidewalks, and sewers, despite being deep in the wilderness, hundreds of kilometres from the nearest active community. Gagnon had the first black mayor in the history of Quebec:

René Coicou René Coicou (30 May 1935 – 2 March 2020) was a Haitian-Canadian politician, who served as the last mayor of Gagnon, Quebec from 1973 to 1985, making him the first black mayor in Quebec. Biography In 1957, Coicou fled Haiti during the regime of ...

, a

Haitian Canadian Haitian Canadians are Canadian citizens of Haitian descent or Haiti-born people who reside in Canada. As of 2016, more than 86% of Haitian Canadians reside in Quebec. Haitian Migration to Canada Immigration 1960-1980 Immigration from Haiti ...

, was mayor from 1973 until the city's dissolution in 1985.

References

External links

Gagnon virtual tour on Trans-Labrador Highway site.

{{authority control Former municipalities in Quebec Ghost towns in Quebec Populated places disestablished in 1991 Communities in Côte-Nord