Baldwin, Ontario
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Baldwin ( 2021 population 579) is a
township A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...
in the
Canadian Canadians () 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 their being ''C ...
province of
Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...
. Located in
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. In 1973, the Regional Municipality of Sudbury was creat ...
north of Espanola, the township's two main communities and population centres are McKerrow and Lorne. The junction of
Ontario Highway 17 King's Highway 17, more commonly known as Highway 17, is a Provincial highways in Ontario, provincially maintained highway and the primary route of the Trans-Canada Highway through the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Onta ...
and
Ontario Highway 6 King's Highway 6, commonly referred to as Highway 6, is a Ontario Provincial Highway Network, provincially maintained highway in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. It crosses a distance of between Port Dover ...
is in Baldwin, just west of McKerrow. An old abandoned fire tower still stands north of McKerrow on Agnew Lake. The township is part of the federal riding of
Algoma—Manitoulin—Kapuskasing Algoma—Manitoulin—Kapuskasing was a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 2004 until 2023. The area was represented by the riding of Algoma from 1867 to 1904 and fro ...
(MP Carol Hughes) and the provincial riding of Algoma—Manitoulin (MPP
Michael Mantha Michael E. Mantha is a politician in Ontario, Canada. He was elected as New Democratic member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario until his removal from the Ontario NDP caucus on March 31, 2023, after which he sat as an independent. He was ...
).


History

The township of Baldwin was surveyed in 1871 and subdivided in 1885, and was named after F. A. Baldwin. In 1901, the Spanish River Pulp and Paper Company was planning a mill town nearby which would become the modern-day town of Espanola. It situated the mill site next to the Spanish River, which fell to the south of the
Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway () , 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 Canadian Pacific Kansas City, Canadian Pacific Ka ...
's
Sault Ste. Marie Sault Ste. Marie may refer to: People * Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, a Native American tribe in Michigan Places * Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada ** Sault Ste. Marie (federal electoral district), a Canadian federal electora ...
branch or "Soo Line", with the portion of the line west of Webbwood being a part of its Webbwood Subdivision. Therefore, a decision was made to build a spur line which would connect Espanola with the CPR, and ultimately the CPR with the
Algoma Eastern Railway The Algoma Eastern Railway was a railway in Northeastern Ontario, Canada. Originally known as the Manitoulin and North Shore Railway (M&NS) with a charter dating back to 1888, the full mainline was opened to traffic in 1913, serving the area al ...
, which was routed through Espanola parallel to the CPR line. The place where this spur joined with the CPR was initially named Stanley Junction in 1908, then changed to Espanola Station in 1919. The name was then changed again to McKerrow in 1931, after Jack O. McKerrow, a manager at the Abitibi Pulp and Paper Company. The population slowly grew, and Baldwin was officially incorporated as a township in 1927. Throughout its history, McKerrow would continue to function as a minor hub for the CPR, befitting its status as a junction connecting the Canadian Pacific Little Current and Webbwood Subdivisions within the Sudbury Division of the Algoma District. Throughout the mid-20th century, however, passenger service at the station slowly decreased; in 1943, there were two trains per day per direction, with one route going west to Sault Ste. Marie and another south to Little Current, but by 1970, the Little Current route had been cut, leaving McKerrow with a single eastbound and single westbound train per day. In 1976, passenger service to McKerrow was eliminated altogether and never restored. In the 1980s, the town's historic two-storey station was demolished, though a shed from the original station was moved and is now privately owned and preserved. Today, the CPR has some maintenance sheds at McKerrow and occasionally uses it as a location for crew changes. The main historic building in the community was the McKerrow Hotel or McKerrow Tavern, which originally opened in 1910 as a typical railway station hotel. Over several decades it gradually expanded, with multiple outbuildings built next to it and the original building being enlarged. At various times it functioned as a hotel, bar, coffee shop, and roadside restaurant, but was vacant for a number of years and began to decay. With the decline in train ridership and the rise of highway-based travel in the latter half of the 20th century, several new businesses were opened closer to the junction point of
Highway 6 Route 6, or Highway 6, may refer to routes in the following countries: International * AH6 (highway), Asian Highway 6 * European route E6 * European route E006 Albania * :de:Nationalstraße 6 (Albanien), National Road SH6 Argentina * P ...
and Highway 17, which many car-based travellers pass through on their way to Espanola and Manitoulin Island. The 110-year-old hotel was demolished in 2020 after being vacant for around a decade.


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; ), 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 culture. It is headquartered in ...
, Baldwin 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.


See also

*
List of townships in Ontario This is a list of township (Canada), townships in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. Townships are listed by List of census divisions of Ontario, census division. Northern Ontario Northeastern Ontario Algoma D ...
*
List of francophone communities in Ontario This is a list of francophone communities in Ontario. Municipalities with a high percentage of French-speakers in the Canadian province of Ontario are listed. The provincial average of Ontarians whose mother tongue is French is 3.3%, with a to ...


References

*


External links

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