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Espanola (2021 population census 5,185) is a town in
Northern Ontario Northern Ontario is a primary geographic and quasi-administrative region of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario, the other primary region being Southern Ontario. Most of the core geographic region is located on p ...
, Canada, 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. In 1973, the Regional Municipality of Sudbury was creat ...
. It is situated on the Spanish River, approximately west of downtown Sudbury, and just south of the junction of Highway 6 and Highway 17. The town is where the first experimental rules for the sport of
ringette Ringette is a winter team sport played on an ice rink using ice hockey skates, straight sticks with drag-tips, and a blue, rubber, pneumatic ring designed for use on ice surfaces. While the sport was originally created exclusively for female c ...
were created in 1963 by Mirl Arthur "Red" McCarthy using a group of local high school girls. Today, Espanola is considered "The Home of Ringette" while
North Bay, Ontario North Bay is a city in Northeastern Ontario, Canada. It is the seat of Nipissing District and takes its name from its position on the shore of Lake Nipissing. It developed as a railroad centre and its airport was an important military locatio ...
, is considered "The Birthplace of Ringette" though the title is often shared by both.


History


Origin

The name "Espanola" has been attributed to a story which dates back to the mid-18th century. The story goes that a First Nations
Ojibwa The Ojibwe (; syll.: ᐅᒋᐺ; plural: ''Ojibweg'' ᐅᒋᐺᒃ) are an Anishinaabe people whose homeland (''Ojibwewaki'' ᐅᒋᐺᐘᑭ) covers much of the Great Lakes region and the northern plains, extending into the subarctic and thro ...
tribe met a man who had travelled far from Spain. The Spanish man, named Frise Espagnol, married a local Anishinaabe (First Nations) of a family living near the mouth of the river and he taught her and their children to speak Spanish. Later, when the French
voyageurs Voyageurs (; ) were 18th- and 19th-century French and later French Canadians and others who transported furs by canoe at the peak of the North American fur trade. The emblematic meaning of the term applies to places (New France, including the ...
and
coureurs des bois A coureur des bois (; ) or coureur de bois (; ) were independent entrepreneurial French Canadians, French Canadian traders who travelled in New France and the interior of North America, usually to trade with Indigenous peoples of the Americas, ...
came upon the settlement and heard fragments of Spanish spoken by the local natives, they remarked "Espagnole", which had been later anglicized to "Espanola", and the river was named the Spanish River.


Company town

The town of Espanola was sited next to a waterfall on the Spanish River, which was sometimes called Webbwood Falls. Before the existence of the town, a hydropower dam was constructed at the falls to power the
pulp and paper The pulp and paper industry comprises companies that use wood, specifically pulpwood, as raw material and produce pulp, paper, paperboard, and other cellulose-based products. Manufacturing process In the manufacturing process, pulp is introd ...
mill of the Spanish River Pulp and Paper Company, a subsidiary of the Mead Corporation. A
company town A company town is a place where all or most of the stores and housing in the town are owned by the same company that is also the main employer. Company towns are often planned with a suite of amenities such as stores, houses of worship, schoo ...
, Espanola, was also established for the mill's workers and their families. The town expanded quickly and was soon a bustling centre with a hotel, school and theatre. On January 21, 1910, a
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 ...
passenger train derailed off a trestle east of Espanola. Forty-three people died from the railcar's plunge into the icy water of the Spanish River. It was one of the CPR's worst railway accidents. In 1927, Abitibi Power and Paper Company acquired the Spanish River Pulp and Paper Mills from Mead, in a transaction that was subsequently seen to be highly overvalued and having a conflict of interest that was ultimately detrimental to Abitibi's shareholders. Changing economic conditions brought on by the
Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...
forced the closure of the Spanish River facility in 1929. Espanola became a ghost town until the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, when the mill site became a camp for German prisoners of war. During the final years of the Hepburn government, it sought to stimulate employment in
Northern Ontario Northern Ontario is a primary geographic and quasi-administrative region of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario, the other primary region being Southern Ontario. Most of the core geographic region is located on p ...
in order to stabilize its political position. In that regard, it encouraged negotiations between Abitibi and the Kalamazoo Vegetable Parchment Company of Parchment, Michigan, which resulted in the sale of Abitibi's Spanish River facility (at that time its largest non-economic asset) in 1943. It subsequently resumed operation as the KVP Company, producing specialty
kraft Kraft Foods Group, Inc. was an American food manufacturing and processing conglomerate (company), conglomerate, split from Kraft Foods Inc. on October 1, 2012, and was headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. It became part of Kraft Heinz on July ...
paper. In 1948, KVP was sued for
nuisance Nuisance (from archaic ''nocence'', through Fr. ''noisance'', ''nuisance'', from Lat. ''nocere'', "to hurt") is a common law tort. It means something which causes offence, annoyance, trouble or injury. A nuisance can be either public (also "com ...
in allowing noxious
effluent Effluent is wastewater from sewers or industrial outfalls that flows directly into surface waters, either untreated or after being treated at a facility. The term has slightly different meanings in certain contexts, and may contain various pol ...
to be discharged into the Spanish River, and an
injunction An injunction is an equitable remedy in the form of a special court order compelling a party to do or refrain from doing certain acts. It was developed by the English courts of equity but its origins go back to Roman law and the equitable rem ...
was issued barring it from making any further discharge. The order was appealed all the way to the
Supreme Court of Canada The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC; , ) is the highest court in the judicial system of Canada. It comprises nine justices, whose decisions are the ultimate application of Canadian law, and grants permission to between 40 and 75 litigants eac ...
without success. In 1950, the injunction was dissolved by an Act of the provincial legislature, which provided for any subsequent disputes with KVP to be taken to arbitration, which, together with other legislative changes, effectively curtailed chances for any further injunctions to be issued. The 1950 Act was not repealed until 2006. The 1950 Act effectively gave KVP a limited licence to pollute, and serious cleanup efforts did not happen until the 1980s. In 1966 KVP was bought by Brown Forest Industries, a division of
Charles Bluhdorn Charles George Bluhdorn (born Karl Georg Blühdorn; September 20, 1926 – February 19, 1983) was an Austrian-born American industrialist. He built his fortune in auto parts and commodities such as zinc, and following a 1966 acquisition became C ...
's industrial conglomerate
Gulf and Western Industries Gulf and Western Industries, Inc. (stylized as Gulf+Western) was an American conglomerate. The company originally focused on manufacturing and resource extraction, but it began purchasing a number of entertainment companies beginning in 1966 ...
. The Brown Forest Industries operation was later sold to E.B. Eddy, who operated the mill until June 1998. As of 2023, the plant was owned by
Domtar Domtar Corporation is a leading, privately held manufacturer of diversified forest products, with a workforce of roughly 14,000 employees in more than 60 locations across North America. While Domtar operated independently for several decades a ...
, and at the time was the town's largest employer. In September 2023, Domtar announced that it intended to shut down the mill. Espanola got some negative press in the early 1980s when the mill accidentally discharged toxic effluent into the Spanish River, killing fish by the thousands. The spill acted like a flush, and when the fish came back a few years later, they were reportedly untainted and thriving, although the toxic smell still remained. Now the mill is said to be one of the most stringent "zero-emissions" pulp bleaching processes in the world , and the area below the Spanish River Dam is a designated fish sanctuary.


Recent history

Espanola was officially incorporated as a town on March 1, 1958. The 1969
CBC Television CBC Television (also known as CBC TV, or simply CBC) is a Television in Canada, Canadian English-language terrestrial television, broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcasting, p ...
series '' Adventures in Rainbow Country'' was filmed near Espanola, near the small First Nations community of Birch Island and at Whitefish Falls. The series starred
Lois Maxwell Lois Ruth Maxwell (née Hooker; February 14, 1927 – September 29, 2007) was a Canadian actress. She was best known for portraying Miss Moneypenny in the first 14 Eon Productions, Eon-produced James Bond in film, ''James Bond'' films (1962–1 ...
, the actress who played "
Miss Moneypenny Miss Moneypenny, later assigned the first names of Eve or Jane, is a fictional character in the James Bond novels and films. She is secretary to M (James Bond), M, who is Bond's superior officer and head of the British Secret Intelligence Serv ...
" in Bond films such as '' Dr. No'' and '' Goldfinger''. Canadian-born, she was a long-time resident of the town. In 2001, a group of volunteers staged a fundraiser for the local hospital by attempting to set a
world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organizatio ...
for the world's longest
ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...
game. They were successful, playing for over three days straight. The record was broken in April 2004 in nearby Sudbury, where the teams played for six hours longer. Currently, the record holders are team Hope and team Cure from
Sherwood Park Sherwood Park is a large hamlet in Alberta, Canada within Strathcona County that is recognized as an urban service area. It is adjacent to the City of Edmonton's eastern boundary. While long confined to generally south of Highway 16 ( Ye ...
near
Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...
,
Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...
, who played for 250 hours (10 days).


Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population 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 ...
, Espanola 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. As of the 2016 census, Espanola is ethnically 87% European, 11.5% Indigenous, and 1.5%
Visible Minority In Canada, a visible minority () is defined by the Government of Canada as "persons, other than aboriginal peoples, who are non-Caucasian in race or non-white in colour". The term is used primarily as a demographic category by Statistics Canada ...
(mostly Chinese and South Asian).


Transportation


Road

is routed through Espanola, with its junction with just to the north, across the Spanish River in Baldwin township near McKerrow. It also connects Espanola with communities to the south along the way to
Manitoulin Island Manitoulin Island ( ) is an island in Lake Huron, located within the borders of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario, in the bioregion known as Laurentia (bioregion), Laurentia. With an area of , it is the Lake ...
, reaching its land terminus at South Baymouth before continuing on the other side of
Lake Huron Lake Huron ( ) is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is shared on the north and east by the Canadian province of Ontario and on the south and west by the U.S. state of Michigan. The name of the lake is derived from early French ex ...
starting at Tobermory and passing through a number of
Southern Ontario Southern Ontario is a Region, primary region of the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario. It is the most densely populated and southernmost region in Canada, with approximately 13.5 million people, approximately 36% o ...
communities before reaching its ultimate southern terminus of
Port Dover Port Dover is an unincorporated community and former town located in Norfolk County, Ontario, Canada, on the north shore of Lake Erie. It is the site of the recurring Friday the 13th motorcycle rally. Prior to the War of 1812, this community ...
.


Rail

Historically, Espanola was a station stop along the Algoma Eastern Railway (AER) and featured a distinctive station and water tower (built in 1911) which were similar to other AER stations such as the one in McKerrow. It marked the first major stop after the AER line turned south toward Manitoulin Island and its ultimate terminus at Little Current. After the financially troubled AER was acquired by the CPR, the portion of the line continuing south from the junction at McKerrow was maintained as the CPR Little Current Subdivision and saw regular passenger traffic, especially due to the difficulties in crossing the Spanish River before a modern highway bridge was constructed in the 1960s. In 1943, the Espanola station was served by a single southbound and single northbound passenger train per day, with a travel time of just over two hours to Sudbury. The approximately 50-year-old water tower was demolished in 1960 as a part of the CPR's final switch from steam to diesel trains. In 1963, passenger service along the spur line was discontinued, though passengers were still able to board CP's iconic Budd cars at the Webbwood and McKerrow stations until service along the Sault Ste. Marie line was also discontinued in 1976, cutting off Espanola's access to passenger rail for the first time in its history. The historic Algoma Eastern Railway station was demolished shortly after in the mid-1980s.


Bus

In 2018, Ontario Northland announced a major service expansion west of Sudbury, which included Espanola. Passengers may board buses headed to Sault Ste. Marie, or Sudbury.


Walking and cycling

A segment of the Great Lakes Waterfront Trail runs through Espanola. It approaches the town from the direction of the rural area of Lee Valley to the west. In downtown Espanola, the trail forks, with one section going to the north, where it bypasses McKerrow to the south on the way to Nairn and Sudbury, and the other going south toward Manitoulin, where it eventually connects to the Bruce Trail via ferry to the
Bruce Peninsula The Bruce Peninsula is a peninsula in Ontario, Canada, that divides Georgian Bay of Lake Huron from the lake's main basin. The peninsula extends roughly northwestwards from the rest of Southwestern Ontario, pointing towards Manitoulin Island, wi ...
. Both directions partially follow a paved shoulder along , as well as on-street and off-street sections around the town.


Public services

Espanola's three primary schools, A.B. Ellis Public School, Sacred Heart School (
Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
), and École St. Joseph ( French Roman Catholic), and two secondary schools, Espanola High School and École secondaire catholique Franco-Ouest, service the local students, as well as those from surrounding communities such as Massey, Webbwood, McKerrow, Nairn Centre, Willisville, Whitefish Falls,
Walford Walford is a fictional borough of East London in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders''. It is the primary setting for the soap. ''EastEnders'' is filmed at Borehamwood in Hertfordshire, towards the north-west of London. Much of the location wor ...
and Birch Island. In 1999 a modern recreation complex was constructed, replacing the aging arena and community swimming pool. In addition, Espanola has a public library.


Sports


Ringette

The town is where the first experimental rules for the Canadian sport of
Ringette Ringette is a winter team sport played on an ice rink using ice hockey skates, straight sticks with drag-tips, and a blue, rubber, pneumatic ring designed for use on ice surfaces. While the sport was originally created exclusively for female c ...
were drafted in 1963 at the Espanola Arena by Mirl Arthur "Red" McCarthy using a group of local high school girls who had played ice hockey during gym classes at the Espanola High School.


Ice hockey

Espanola has had four Junior A hockey teams throughout the town's history. The first was the Espanola Screaming Eagles which were founded in 1962 in the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey Association and won the league title the same year. The team moved to the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League in 1972 when the NOJHA disbanded and stayed there until 2003 when the team relocated to
Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan Sault Ste. Marie ( ') is a city in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Upper Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the county seat of Chippewa County, Michigan, Chippewa County and is the only city within the county. With a population of ...
where they are now known as the Soo Eagles in the same league. The town's second team was the Espanola Kings which were founded in 2007 in the
Greater Metro Junior A Hockey League The Greater Metro Junior A Hockey League (GMHL) is a Canadian developmental junior ice hockey league. The league has primarily had teams in the Greater Toronto Area, Central Ontario, Northeastern Ontario, and Quebec. As of December 2019, the le ...
. However, the team only lasted two season before folding after the 2008-2009 season. The third team was the Espanola Rivermen which were founded in 2013 in the NOJHL. However, the team lasted one season in the league before relocating to the newly formed Canadian International Hockey League. The team folded in 2015 after the league disbanded after one season. The fourth team is the
Espanola Paper Kings The Espanola Paper Kings are a Canadian Junior "A" ice hockey team based out of Espanola, Ontario. They are members of the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League (NOJHL) and play their home games at the Espanola Regional Recreational Complex. ...
which were founded in 2015 in the NOJHL. The team is still active in the league today.


Media


Radio

Other radio station signals are received out of Manitoulin Island, Elliot Lake and Sudbury.


Defunct Radio stations

*AM 930 CKNS - Launched on October 2, 1976. Left the air to be replaced by CKNR-FM in 1997. *AM 1240 CBLP - Launched as a local community-owned radio station in September 197173-522
''CRTC/worldradiohistory.com'', 1973 page 138
by the Espanola Community Radio Citizens Committee using a low-power 40 watt AM transmitter. Originally broadcast local material with some CBC programming; it's uncertain when the local programming was discontinued. Replaced in the 1980s by
CBCE-FM CBCS-FM is a Canadian radio station. It is the CBC Radio One station in Sudbury, Ontario, broadcasting at 99.9 FM, and serves all of Northeastern Ontario through its network of relay transmitters. The station's studio is located at the CBC/Ra ...
, a CBC rebroadcaster in Little Current, which covered Espanola,
Manitoulin Island Manitoulin Island ( ) is an island in Lake Huron, located within the borders of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario, in the bioregion known as Laurentia (bioregion), Laurentia. With an area of , it is the Lake ...
, and some other areas of the North Shore.


Television

Former television stations which operated in the Espanola and area prior to the analog shutdown in 2012 which can only be received via cable or satellite: One of the last operating analog television signals which can reach the Espanola area is CICI-TV ( CTV) channel 5 out of Sudbury.


Print

Espanola is home to the '' Mid-North Monitor'', a weekly community newspaper.


In popular culture

Espanola is a pivotal location in '' The Marrow Thieves'', a young adult novel written by
Cherie Dimaline Cherie Dimaline () is a writer and a member of the Georgian Bay Métis Council of the Métis Nation of Ontario. She is most notable for her 2017 young adult novel '' The Marrow Thieves'', which explores the continued colonial exploitation of I ...
.


Notable people and residents

* Art Gauthier, professional hockey player. * Leo Lamoureux, professional hockey player. * Al Secord, professional hockey player. * Mirl Arthur "Red" McCarthy became the co-founder of the sport of
ringette Ringette is a winter team sport played on an ice rink using ice hockey skates, straight sticks with drag-tips, and a blue, rubber, pneumatic ring designed for use on ice surfaces. While the sport was originally created exclusively for female c ...
in 1963 while he was the area's recreation director. * Greg Duhaime, record-setting Canadian steeplechaser. * Jim Gordon, former mayor of Sudbury, politician. *
Lois Maxwell Lois Ruth Maxwell (née Hooker; February 14, 1927 – September 29, 2007) was a Canadian actress. She was best known for portraying Miss Moneypenny in the first 14 Eon Productions, Eon-produced James Bond in film, ''James Bond'' films (1962–1 ...
, played
Miss Moneypenny Miss Moneypenny, later assigned the first names of Eve or Jane, is a fictional character in the James Bond novels and films. She is secretary to M (James Bond), M, who is Bond's superior officer and head of the British Secret Intelligence Serv ...
in the
James Bond The ''James Bond'' franchise focuses on James Bond (literary character), the titular character, a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels ...
films and starred in Adventures in Rainbow Country.


See also

*
List of towns in Ontario A town is a sub-type of List of municipalities in Ontario, municipalities in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. A town can have the municipal status of either a List of municipalities in Ontario#Single and lower ...
*
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 ...
*
List of population centres in Ontario A population centre, in Canadian census data, is a type of census unit which meets the demographic characteristics of an urban area, having a population of at least 1,000 people and a population density of no fewer than 400 persons per square km ...
*
List of municipalities in Ontario Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Canada with 14,223,942 residents as of Canada 2021 Census, 2021 and is List of Canadian provinces and territories by area#Land area, third-largest in lan ...


References


Further reading


Bibliographies

* * *


Economic history

* (Section 14: Business History) *


External links

* {{Sudbury District, Ontario Company towns in Canada Single-tier municipalities in Ontario Towns in Ontario Populated places established in the 1900s Spanish River (Ontario)