Iroquois Falls 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, with a population of 4,418 at the 2021 census. The town centre lies 11 km east of Hwy 11 on the banks of the

Abitibi River The Abitibi River is a river in northeastern Ontario, Canada, which flows northwest from Lake Abitibi to join the Moose River which empties into James Bay. This river is long, and descends . It is the ninth longest river in Ontario, Behind th ...

, west of

Lake Abitibi Lake Abitibi (, ) is a shallow lake in northeastern Ontario and western Quebec, Canada. The lake, which lies within the vast Clay Belt, is separated in two distinct portions by a short narrows, making it actually two lakes. Its total area is , a ...

Timmins Timmins ( ) is a city in northeastern Ontario, Canada, located on the Mattagami River. The city is the fourth-largest city in the Northeastern Ontario region with a population of 41,145 at the 2021 Canadian census and an estimated population of ...

, one of the largest cities in northern Ontario, is approximately to the southwest. The following communities are also within the municipal boundaries: Monteith, Nellie Lake, and Porquis Junction. Iroquois Falls' primary industry was a large mill producing newsprint and commercial printing papers. In December 2014, the owner,

Resolute Forest Products Resolute Forest Products (French: ''Produits forestiers Résolu''), formerly known as AbitibiBowater Inc., is a Canada-based Pulp and paper industry in Canada, pulp and paper company. Headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, the company was formed in 2 ...

, announced its permanent closure. There are also three hydro-electric dams nearby. The

Monteith Correctional Complex The Monteith Correctional Complex is a medium/maximum security prison located in Monteith, a community in Iroquois Falls, Ontario.Samuel Nelson Monteith).

History

The background of the town's name varies depending on the source, attributing it to invasions by the

Iroquois The Iroquois ( ), also known as the Five Nations, and later as the Six Nations from 1722 onwards; alternatively referred to by the Endonym and exonym, endonym Haudenosaunee ( ; ) are an Iroquoian languages, Iroquoian-speaking Confederation#Ind ...

Huron Huron may refer to: Native American ethnography * Huron people, who have been called Wyandotte, Wyandot, Wendat and Quendat * Huron language, an Iroquoian language * Huron-Wendat Nation, or Huron-Wendat First Nation, or Nation Huronne-Wendat * N ...

Ojibway The Ojibwe (; Ojibwe writing systems#Ojibwe syllabics, syll.: ᐅᒋᐺ; plural: ''Ojibweg'' ᐅᒋᐺᒃ) are an Anishinaabe people whose homeland (''Ojibwewaki'' ᐅᒋᐺᐘᑭ) covers much of the Great Lakes region and the Great Plains, n ...

villages. It is also unclear who has relayed the tale, settlers or the

First Nations First nations are indigenous settlers or bands. First Nations, first nations, or first peoples may also refer to: Indigenous groups *List of Indigenous peoples *First Nations in Canada, Indigenous peoples of Canada who are neither Inuit nor Mé ...

people themselves.

Iroquois Falls was built as a company town by Frank Harris Anson, owner of the

Abitibi Power and Paper Company Abitibi Power and Paper Company Limited was a forest products business based in Montreal, Quebec, that was founded in 1914. The firm was a mainstay of the Canadian newsprint industry in the first half of the 20th century. Between 1974 and 1979, Ab ...

. Anson had been influenced by the

garden city movement The garden city movement was a 20th century urban planning movement promoting satellite communities surrounding the central city and separated with Green belt, greenbelts. These Garden Cities would contain proportionate areas of residences, i ...

of urban planning, and was committed to building an elaborate town. A Chicago architectural firm was hired to design the landscaping and houses, and work crews began clearing land in 1913. The town's park and commercial developments were clearly separated from the paper mill, and the residential streets curved with a focus on the centre of the town. A large church was built, the first English Catholic Parish in Northern Ontario, and today remains a historic landmark. Anson's company town had a hospital, a school, and a company hotel. Employee homes were designed with gambrel roofs to resemble New England farmhouses, and their design and location reflected the employee's rank at the mill. Papermakers lived in double-adjoined homes, while senior managers lived on separate streets in single-family homes. Much of the town was destroyed by fire in 1916, though Anson continued his beautification program during the 1920s as the community rebuilt. The town's avant-garde style earned it the nickname "Anson's Folly". The town was incorporated in 1915, and a board of trade was chartered in 1926. The paper mill created a dramatic change to the area, and people migrated to the community for work. The creation of the Temiskaming and Northern Ontario Railway (now

Ontario Northland Railway The Ontario Northland Railway is a Canadian railway operated by the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission, a Crown agency (Ontario), provincial Crown agency of the government of Ontario. Originally built to develop the Lake Timiskaming ...

) greatly boosted the economy as there were few roads at the time. As Iroquois Falls grew, two new communities within the town began to emerge. An area known first as "The Wye" (because the rail tracks split at this point) grew to the south, and was at first a ramshackle collection of cabins and shacks. It later became known as Ansonville, and was home to a number of business people and others who were shut out from the company town. In contrast to Iroquois Falls, Ansonville had little town planning, and no water, sewer, or electrical service. Insurance companies would not insure homes there because the risk of fire was too great, and the first residents were French-Canadians, Russians and Ukrainians. Animosity was frequent between Ansonville and Iroquois Falls, and many residents of Iroquois Falls condemned Ansonville "as a dark den of foreigners engaged in regular street brawls, illegal alcohol consumption, and other unsavoury activities" In 1921, Ansonville began to levy taxes, which led a group of residents to establish a third community named Victoria in the north-west section of the town. The name was later changed to Montrock. In 1979, the three communities were amalgamated into one town named Iroquois Falls. The paper mill, then called Abitibi-Price, merged with Stone-Consolidated, and then with Donohue Forest Products, and finally with Bowater to create Abitibi-Bowater. On 17 April 2009, Abitibi-Bowater sought bankruptcy protection, emerging from it as Resolute Forest Products. A tragic event occurred in 1984 at the coffee shop at Joe's Texaco in nearby Porquis Junction. Ontario Provincial Police constable Vern Miller was drinking coffee with his partner constable Norm Tiegen, when 23-year-old Gregg Prevost of Iroquois Falls entered and shot Miller with a shotgun, killing him instantly. The community was shocked and outraged, and Prevost was sentenced to life in prison. The town of Matheson renamed their local arena the Vern Miller Memorial Arena in his honour.

Geography

Climate

Iroquois Falls falls within the northern periphery of the

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers, and cold ...

(

Dfb DFB may refer to: Music * Dem Franchize Boyz, an Atlanta hip hop group * Dysfunctional Family BBQ, a New York festival Sport * DFB-Pokal, a football cup competition in Germany Organisations * Furka Steam Railway (), Switzerland * German Footbal ...

) despite extreme January and February record lows that exceed that of many subarctic regions. In January 1935, the town set the record low temperature for Ontario of , the town also happens to hold the unofficial February record low of . set in February 1899 (before the town was officially incorporated but weather was taken) and tied in February 1934 but it wasn't recorded at the location used for official temperature readings. Winter typically lasts from the end of October to well into April.

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 ...

, Iroquois Falls 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.

Economy

Resolute Forest Products announced the permanent closure of its mill in Iroquois Falls on 5 December 2014, eliminating 180 jobs. Mayor Michael Shea commented: "it's going to affect every village in Northern Ontario." In 2015, the Town of Iroquois Falls entered into an agreement with Resolute Forest Products, and Riverside Developments, regarding redeveloping the former mill site into a multi-use industrial facility, commercial-industrial park, or possibly a greenhouse complex.

Sports and recreation

Jus Jordan Arena

The Jus Jordan Arena arena and curling rinks were completed in 1955. The arena was designed and construction supervised by then Abitibi Paper Company engineer Jus Jordan. entirely through the volunteer effort of townspeople. There is a Hockey rink with a full surrounding of seats, a Curling rink with five playing surfaces, a cafeteria and a licensed lounge. A pool was added in 1979, and the complex was renovated in 2007. The Iroquois Falls Curling Club is located at the arena. The arena is currently home to the

Iroquois Falls Storm The Iroquois Falls Storm are a Canadian Junior "A" Hockey team based out of Iroquois Falls, Ontario, Canada. They currently play in the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League and are former members of the Greater Metro Junior A Hockey League. ...

and was formerly home to the

Abitibi Eskimos The Timmins Rock are a Junior ice hockey#Junior A, Junior "A" ice hockey team from Timmins, Ontario, Canada. They are a part of the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League (NOJHL). History The Timmins Golden Bears became members of the NOJHL in 1991 ...

, Iroquois Falls Jr. Eskis and

Iroquois Falls Eskis The Hearst Lumberjacks are a Junior "A" ice hockey team from Hearst, Ontario, Canada. They are a part of the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League (NOJHL). As the Powassan Hawks, the team won two Dudley Hewitt Cups (1992 and 1993). History In 2 ...

of the

Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League The Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League (NOJHL) is a Junior ice hockey league with eleven teams in Northeastern Ontario and Upper Michigan. The league is a constituent member of the Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL) and is governed by the ...

Annual events

Each summer brings the "Search for Moby Pike" fishing derby on

. 'MusicMusicMusic' was an annual live event on the second weekend of August, and featured local musicians raising funds for community charities. The Porquis Blues Festival, later renamed the Porquis Music Festival, was an annual festival in Porquis Junction, a small community south-west of Iroquois Falls. The last festival was in 2022.

Education

Iroquois Falls is served by: *

District School Board Ontario North East District School Board Ontario North East (DSB1; DSB Ontario North East; known as English-language Public District School Board No. 1 prior to 1999) is an Ontario English public school board serving Northeastern Ontario from Hearst to Temagami. It ...

Conseil scolaire de district du Nord-Est de l'Ontario The Conseil scolaire public du Nord-Est de l'Ontario (CSPNE, formerly the Conseil scolaire de district du Nord-Est de l'Ontario or CSDNE), also known as Ontario District School Board #56, manages the Canadian French, French-language schools in th ...

Conseil scolaire catholique de district des Grandes-Rivières Le Conseil scolaire catholique de district des Grandes-Rivières (CSCDGR) is a French Catholic school board situated in northern Ontario. The easternmost region of the school board starts in Haileybury. The board covers much of the northern corr ...

Notable people

* Henry Abramson, dean at Lander College of Arts and Science, Touro College, New York. *

Aubrey Cosens Aubrey Cosens Victoria Cross, VC (21 May 1921 – 26 February 1945) was a Canadians, Canadian soldier and posthumous recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded ...

, recipient of the Victoria Cross. *

Paul Gagné Paul L. Gagné (born February 6, 1962) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who played 390 games in the National Hockey League. He played for the Colorado Rockies, New Jersey Devils, Toronto Maple Leafs and New York Islanders. H ...

, professional hockey player. *

Ryan Garlock Ryan Garlock (born April 24, 1986) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He most notably played in the American Hockey League (AHL). Playing career Garlock was drafted 45th overall in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft by the Chicago Black ...

, professional hockey player. *

Roger Lemelin Roger Lemelin, (April 7, 1919 – March 16, 1992) was a Quebec novelist, television writer and essayist. Biography Lemelin was born in Quebec City. From 1944 to 1952, he was a Canadian correspondent for the American magazines ''Time'' and ...

, professional hockey player. *

Patricia O'Callaghan Patricia Mary O'Callaghan (born October 2, 1970) is a classically trained Canadian singer. She is a soprano who has built an international reputation as a performer of contemporary opera, early 20th-century cabaret music and the songs of Leonard Co ...

, soprano opera singer *

Yvan Patry Yvan Patry (1948–1999) was a Canadian documentary filmmaker. Yvan was born in Iroquois Falls, Ontario. During the 1970s he worked as a professor at Montmorency College in Laval, Quebec, where he produced several educational films. Yvan's sh ...

, Québécois documentary filmmaker. * Gerry Rioux, professional hockey player. * Caitlin Romain, professional curler.

In popular culture

Canadian musician

Stompin' Tom Connors Charles Thomas "Stompin' Tom" Connors, Order of Canada, OC (February 9, 1936 – March 6, 2013) was a Canadian country music, country and folk music, folk singer-songwriter. Focusing his career exclusively on his native Canada, he is credited wi ...

sang "May, the Millwright's Daughter" on his 1967 album ''The Northlands' Own Tom Connors'':

In a little town called Ansonville, not very far from the papermill. There lives a girl I'm thinkin' of, May, the millwright's daughter, the girl I really love.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Municipalities in Cochrane District Single-tier municipalities in Ontario Towns in Ontario

History

Geography

Climate

Demographics

Economy

Sports and recreation

Jus Jordan Arena

Annual events

Education

Notable people

In popular culture

See also

References

External links