Jackfish is a

ghost town A ghost town, deserted city, extinct town, or abandoned city is an abandoned settlement, usually one that contains substantial visible remaining buildings and infrastructure such as roads. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economi ...

in northern

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 ...

, Canada, located on the north shore of

Lake Superior Lake Superior is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface areaThe Caspian Sea is the largest lake, but is saline, not freshwater. Lake Michigan–Huron has a larger combined surface area than Superior, but is normally considered tw ...

east of

Terrace Bay Terrace Bay is a township in Thunder Bay District in northern Ontario, Canada, located on the north shore of Lake Superior east of Thunder Bay along Ontario Highway 17, Highway 17. The name originates from a series of lake Terrace (geology), ter ...

. The last spike on 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 ...

(CPR) track between Montreal and

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

was driven in west of Jackfish on May 16, 1885. Laying one particular mile of railway in this area is said to have cost $700,000. Jackfish was established as a train order station on the CPR following the period of railway construction between 1883 and 1885. Initially a siding or passing track was built at this location to allow east and westbound trains to operate on the single track main line. An

electrical telegraph Electrical telegraphy is point-to-point distance communicating via sending electric signals over wire, a system primarily used from the 1840s until the late 20th century. It was the first electrical telecommunications system and the most wid ...

enabled the station operator to control the movement of trains with information received from a

train dispatcher A train dispatcher (US), rail traffic controller (Canada), train controller (Australia), train service controller (Singapore) or signaller (UK), is employed by a railroad to direct and facilitate the movement of trains over an assigned territ ...

. With its location as a railway siding, along a

beach A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from Rock (geology), rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle beach, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological s ...

area, amongst Lake Superior's otherwise

rocky shore A rocky shore is an intertidal area of seacoasts where solid rock predominates. Rocky shores are biologically rich environments, and are a useful "natural laboratory" for studying intertidal ecology and other biological processes. Due to th ...

line, Jackfish became a port of

commercial fishing Commercial fishing is the activity of catching fish and other seafood for Commerce, commercial Profit (economics), profit, mostly from wild fisheries. It provides a large quantity of food to many countries around the world, but those who practice ...

. Fish were caught here and packed in ice and loaded aboard trains bound for markets in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

and

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

. In 1895 Jackfish was established as a port to receive

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal i ...

required as fuel for

steam train A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomoti ...

s travelling on the CPR. A dock outfitted with cranes allowed large ships to unload their carg

From this point, the coal was loaded into cars and delivered to CPR coaling depots such as Schreiber, Ontario, Schreiber and White River. With the increased activity of steam locomotives shunting cars around, a large water tower was located near the railway tracks. In the 1930s A lumber company here sent logs by ship for use at

pulp Pulp may refer to: * Pulp (fruit), the inner flesh of fruit * Pulp (band), an English rock band Engineering * Pulp (paper), the fibrous material used to make paper * Dissolving pulp, highly purified cellulose used in fibre and film manufacture ...

mills in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. During

World War II 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 ...

, young Canadian men of

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

ese origin from

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

were sent to road construction camps, including one at Jackfish, to work on the construction of the

Trans-Canada Highway The Trans-Canada Highway (Canadian French, French: ; abbreviated as the TCH or T-Can) is a transcontinental federal–provincial highway system that travels through all ten provinces of Canada, from the Pacific Ocean on the west coast to the A ...

. With the

dieselization Dieselisation (US: dieselization) is the process of equipping vehicles with a diesel engine or diesel engines. It can involve replacing an internal combustion engine powered by petrol (US: gasoline) fuel with an engine powered by diesel fuel, ...

of CPR's

motive power ''Motive Power'' is a bi-monthly railway related magazine that focuses on diesel locomotives in Australia. The first issue was published on 23 August 1998. Its headquarters is in Sydney. The content includes photographs of locomotives & trains, ...

and replacement of its steam engines in the 1950s, the fortunes of the town began to decline. The fish stocks also collapsed with the introduction of the

sea lamprey The sea lamprey (''Petromyzon marinus'') is a parasitic lamprey native to the Northern Hemisphere. It is sometimes referred to as the "vampire fish". It was likely introduced to the Great Lakes region through the Erie Canal in 1825 and the Wel ...

into the

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes spanning the Canada–United States border. The five lakes are Lake Superior, Superior, Lake Michigan, Michigan, Lake Huron, H ...

. The Lakeview Hotel at Jackfish, built at the end of the 19th century, remained a popular stopping place during the summer for a number of years. The hotel burned down in 1960. By September, 1963 two families remained in Jackfish and they moved out of the town a month later. Hence, the town site was totally abandoned by 1963. The name Jackfish and its railroad connection still exist. The Canadian Pacific Railway operates and maintains a siding named Jackfish located just east of the original Jackfish townsite. The siding is part of the operating infrastructure making up the,http://www.okthepk.ca/mobile/11heronBay.htm Heron Bay Subdivision a defined piece of track which extends from White River to Schreiber, Ontario. Jackfish siding is 14,000 feet in length. It is a signalled siding rated for 30 mph. The signals and switches are part of a Centralized Traffic Control (CTC) system operated by a Rail Traffic Controller situated in Canadian Pacific Railway's headquarters in Calgary, Alberta. "Jackfish" is a common name for the

Northern Pike The northern pike (''Esox lucius'') is a species of carnivorous fish of the genus ''Esox'' (pikes). They are commonly found in brackish water, moderately salty and fresh waters of the Northern Hemisphere (''i.e.'' holarctic in distribution). T ...

References

*Jackfish memories: Once it had a railroad...now it's done by Lyle Nicol, Duluth, MN : Lake Superior Magazine, 2009 *Lake Superior Journal: The Vanishing Act at Pebble Beach by Lyle Nicol - Lake Superior Magazine December 2013 http://www.lakesuperior.com/travel/ontario/355journal-the-vanishing-act-at-pebble-beach/
Aerial photo of Jackfish town site today
{{authority control Ghost towns in Northern Ontario Communities in Thunder Bay District Railway towns in Ontario