Kenabeek (
) is a locality and unincorporated community in
geographic
Geography (from Ancient Greek ; combining 'Earth' and 'write', literally 'Earth writing') is the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. Geography is an all-encompassing discipline that seeks an understanding o ...
Henwood Township
in the
Unorganized West Part of
Timiskaming District
Timiskaming is a district and census division in Northeastern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario. The district was created in 1912 from parts of Algoma, Nipissing, and Sudbury districts. In 1921, Cochrane District was created from p ...
, in
northeastern 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
Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
.
The community is located on
Ontario Highway 65
King's Highway 65, commonly referred to as Highway 65, is a provincially maintained highway in the Canadian province of Ontario. The route begins at Highway 66 and travels southeast to the Quebec
Quebec is Canada's List of Canad ...
, approximately halfway between
Elk Lake and
New Liskeard.
Geography
Kenabeek and its surrounding area is mostly sand with a bit of rock, and a shallow amount of topsoil, and therefore is not good agricultural land. There are a number of small lakes within two or three miles (5 km) of Kenabeek, mostly privately owned. Many are
muskeg
Muskeg (; ; , lit. ''moss bog'') is a peat-forming ecosystem found in several northern climates, most commonly in Arctic and boreal ecosystem, boreal areas. Muskeg is approximately synonymous with bogland, bog or peatland, and is a standard te ...
lakes and others are surrounded by swamp. Several of the lakes are home to
loon
Loons (North American English) or divers (British English, British / Irish English) are a group of aquatic birds found in much of North America and northern Eurasia. All living species of loons are members of the genus ''Gavia'', family (biolog ...
s. Land in the Kenabeek area is mostly used for growing hay and potatoes, and in a few cases for grazing a small number of cattle for local use.
History
Kenabeek was founded at some time in the early 1920s as a post office, since the nearest post office at the time was in
Thornloe
Thornloe is a village in the Canadian province of Ontario, located in the Timiskaming District. The village had a population of 92 in the 2021 Canadian Census.
Thornloe Cheese Factory
Since 1940 Thornloe Cheese had produced a respected bra ...
, about away, a long distance by horse and wagon. Other than farms (160 acre plots, a few with multiple homes, usually multi-generation family) there are no houses falling within the village, so the town is considered to be the General Store, Post Office and volunteer Fire Station.
Kenabeek and the surrounding area was hit by the
Great Fire of 1922
The Great Fire of 1922 was a wildfire burning through the Lesser Clay Belt in the Timiskaming District, Ontario, Canada, from October 4 to 5, 1922. It has been called one of the ten worst natural disasters in Canadian history.
The preceding summe ...
(the Haileybury fire of 1922) which wiped out hundreds of acres of land and many homes in and around Kenabeek.
Most of the residents of the Kenabeek area can trace their families back two and three generations.
Boundaries and residents
The Kenabeek town signs are placed about from the General Store and Post Office, but the surrounding homes are mostly on the original farm plots, except for a few homes carved out of those plots for extended family or friends, and are not town-homes.
In addition to the General Store and Post Office, there is a volunteer fire department and building and a community centre. The community centre is the original one-room schoolhouse which housed grades 1 to 8 until sometime in the 1960s. The current caretaker of the Community Center is Jean Byerlay.
References
External links
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Communities in Timiskaming District