Sables-Spanish Rivers is a

township A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Ca ...

in Ontario, Canada, on the north shore of

Georgian Bay Georgian Bay (french: Baie Georgienne) is a large bay of Lake Huron, in the Laurentia bioregion. It is located entirely within the borders of Ontario, Canada. The main body of the bay lies east of the Bruce Peninsula and Manitoulin Island. To ...

. It is located in the

Sudbury District The Sudbury District is a district in Northeastern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario. It was created in 1894 from townships of eastern Algoma District and west Nipissing District. The overwhelming majority of the district (about 92%) is ...

, approximately west 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 ...

. The township was created in 1998 by amalgamating the former towns of Massey and Webbwood with the township of Spanish River and the unorganized geographic townships of May and Shakespeare, and was named for Massey's location at the junction of the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

and Aux Sables rivers. The township's population was 3,214 in the

Canada 2016 Census The 2016 Canadian census was an enumeration of Canadian residents, which counted a population of 35,151,728, a change from its 2011 population of 33,476,688. The census, conducted by Statistics Canada, was Canada's seventh quinquennial census ...

. The municipal offices are located in Massey.

Communities

Massey () is located at the junction of the aux Sables and Spanish Rivers, close to the northern shore of

Lake Huron Lake Huron ( ) is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. Hydrology, Hydrologically, it comprises the easterly portion of Lake Michigan–Huron, having the same surface elevation as Lake Michigan, to which it is connected by the , Strait ...

Chutes Provincial Park Chutes Provincial Park is a recreation class provincial park in Sables-Spanish Rivers, Ontario, Canada, near the community of Massey, Ontario, Massey. The park is named after a logging chute that diverted logs around the waterfall on the River au ...

is one of its principal attractions. Massey is one of several sites that claim to be the home of

broomball Broomball is a both a recreational and organized competitive winter team sport played on ice or snow and is played either indoors or outdoors, depending on climate and location. It is a ball sport and is most popularly played in Canada and the ...

. Walford () is the westernmost community of the township located along Highway 17. Its economy was primarily based on logging and mining. The old Walford fire tower still stands north of the village on Tube Lake. Webbwood () was incorporated as a town in 1906. The hamlet of

Lee Valley The Lea Valley, the valley of the River Lea, has been used as a transport corridor, a source of sand and gravel, an industrial area, a water supply for London, and a recreational area. The London 2012 Summer Olympics were based in Stratford, ...

is divided between the municipalities of Sables-Spanish Rivers and Espanola.

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population 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 ...

, Sables-Spanish Rivers had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.

Transportation

All three of the township's main communities are located directly along . Massey is located at the junction of Highway 17 and . All three communities sit along the Huron Central Railway, and once had Canadian Pacific Railway stations. Webbwood was once a

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 Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway (french: Chemin de fer Canadien Pacifique) , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadi ...

's Sudbury–Soo Line, with the Webbwood Subdivision to the east and the Thessalon Subdivision to the west. As

steam engine A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a cylinder. This pushing force can be trans ...

s were phased out, Canadian Pacific no longer needed as many divisional points for refueling and repair, so its importance as a station declined and the station was eventually removed. Massey and Webbwood are both stops on

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 Sault Ste. Marie–

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

motor coach route. The Great Lakes Waterfront Trail, a 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 ...

, passes through the township. Travelling from

in the west, the trail enters the township following DeClerk Road and Menard Crescent on gravel before following the route of Highway 17 along a paved shoulder. At Walford, it dips south to follow the gravel route of River Road parallel and to the north of the Spanish River. Upon reaching Massey, it passes through the south of the town before continuing along Lee Valley Road toward

Media

The township is served primarily by media from

Elliot Lake Elliot Lake is a city in Algoma District, Ontario, Canada. It is north of Lake Huron, midway between the cities of Sudbury and Sault Ste. Marie in the Northern Ontario region. Once dubbed the "uranium capital of the world," Elliot Lake has since ...

, Espanola and Little Current. In 1995, The Canadian Wildlife Experience Inc. received a licence to operate a new low-power

tourist information A visitor center or centre (see American and British English spelling differences), visitor information center, tourist information center, is a physical location that provides tourist information to visitors. Types of visitor center A visit ...

radio station to serve Massey, Walford and Spanish, Ontario at 98.5 MHz, during the spring, summer and fall seasons. The call letters were CJWE-FM. It is uncertain if the station is still currently in operation.Decision CRTC 95-796
New low-power FM radio station, ''CRTC'', November 1, 1995

Culture

The community hosts an annual fair in late August, which celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2006. Massey holds a fall fair every year at the fairgrounds. There are rides, contests, prizes, many games and even more vendors. A crash-up car derby has been recently been added along with a four-wheeler mud bog competition. In 2008, the classic car show at the fair was very small compared to the years before so it may be cancelled. There are motocross races, horse pulls, and horse shows there as well.

Famous people

The citizens of Webbwood elected Canada's first female mayor,

Barbara Hanley Barbara McCallum Hanley ( Smith,
''

"History Made in Webbwood When Woman Mayor Elected"
''

Sudbury Star ''The Sudbury Star'' is a Canadian daily regional newspaper published in Sudbury, Ontario. It is owned by the media company, Postmedia. It is the largest daily paper in Northeastern Ontario by circulation. History The ''Sudbury Star'' began as ...

'', January 6, 1966. Massey is the birthplace of artist

Robert Lougheed Robert Lougheed (May 27, 1910 – June 3, 1982) was a Canada-born American artist who has specialized in images of the American West. He was born and raised on a farm in Massey, Ontario, Canada. He became an illustrator for mail-order catalogues ...

and former NHLer

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 ...

. It is also the hometown of writer and former bank robber Stephen Reid and the current home of poet Charlie Smith. Theodore Drake, one of the inventors of

Pablum Pablum is a processed cereal for infants originally marketed and co-created by the Mead Johnson Company in 1931. The product was developed at The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Ontario, to combat infant malnutrition. The trademarke ...

, was born at Webbwood.

Recreation and sports

The Massey District Community Centre and Arena is located in Massey, and plays host to the Massey Predators Minor Hockey Association and the Massey and District Figure Skating Club. The Massey Marathon is held annually using the arena as a centre for registration and award ceremony. The marathon is now in its 33rd year and is a qualifier for the

Boston Marathon The Boston Marathon is an annual marathon race hosted by several cities and towns in greater Boston in eastern Massachusetts, United States. It is traditionally held on Patriots' Day, the third Monday of April. Begun in 1897, the event was i ...

. The township is also the home of

References

External links

* {{Sudbury District, Ontario Municipalities in Sudbury District Single-tier municipalities in Ontario Township municipalities in Ontario