Field is a community in
Nipissing District
Nipissing District is a district in Northeastern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario. It was created in 1858. The district seat is North Bay.
In 2021, the population was 84,716. The land area is ; the population density was , making it o ...
,
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 the municipality of
West Nipissing
West Nipissing is a municipality in Northeastern Ontario, Canada, on Lake Nipissing in the Nipissing District. It was formed on January 1, 1999, with the amalgamation of seventeen and a half former towns, villages, townships and unorganized commun ...
. The community is located on
Highway 64, approximately 20 kilometres north of
Sturgeon Falls
Sturgeon Falls is a community and former town in Nipissing District, Ontario, located on the Sturgeon River. The community had a population of 6,939 at the 2021 census and a density of 1,129/km2 (2,920 sq mi). Following a failed legal challeng ...
. The community was initially built on logging and farming, but has become an outdoor sports centre with its recreational activities as the main village industry. The community is named after Canadian politician
Corelli Collard Field.
The area has been the site of many natural disasters. Notably, in the spring of 1979, the Sturgeon River overflowed the banks of Field, causing massive flooding in the community centre. Many houses were demolished and rebuilt on higher ground nearby.
Every July, Field is the site of the annual River & Sky Music / Camping Festival.
History
Development
After logging began in the Field area of around 1886, small logging populations would relocate to the area, building the community. A log church was built in 1879, with the town's first post office being built soon after. With the community's railway launching construction in 1912, the town would become more accessible, with the first train coming to Field in 1915. However, in 1995, the
Canadian National Railway
The Canadian National Railway Company () is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States.
CN is Canada's largest railway, in terms of both revenue a ...
deactivated all lines in the area, rendering the railway abandoned.
Natural disasters
The first known natural disaster in Field occurred in 1928 when a major flood damaged the town. Floods would continue in the 1950s.
In the summer of 1970, a tornado injured several residents and killed one. Over $500,000
CAD was spent to repair the town.
In 1979, the
Sturgeon River rose twenty feet and flooded most of the village. On some nights, the river would rise by as much as a foot. Several hundred residents were forced to relocate to the community's now defunct
elementary school
A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...
, where volunteers would cook meals. At the expense of the provincial
Government of Ontario
The Government of Ontario () is the body responsible for the administration of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. The term ''Government of Ontario'' refers specifically to the executive—political Minister ...
, many homes on lower ground were relocated to higher ground in the community's Val des Arbes neighbourhood, with compensation for their property loss. The majority of Field's residents still live in Val des Arbes today. Following the flood, many people permanently left the community and the majority of businesses did not reopen. Today, the population is estimated to be less than half of what it was before the flood in 1979.
References
External links
Field
{{NorthernOntario-geo-stub