Moonbeam is a township in

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 ...

, located in the

Cochrane District Cochrane District is a district and census division in Northeastern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario. It was created in 1921 from parts of Timiskaming and Thunder Bay districts. In 2021, the district's population was 77,963, with a l ...

. It is located between the communities of Fauquier and Kitigan, 20km east of

Kapuskasing Kapuskasing ( ) is a town on the Kapuskasing River in the Cochrane District of Northern Ontario, Canada, approximately east of Hearst, Ontario, Hearst and northwest of Timmins, Ontario, Timmins. The town was known as MacPherson until 1917. ...

along

Ontario Highway 11 King's Highway 11, commonly referred to as Highway 11, is a Ontario Provincial Highway Network, provincially-maintained highway in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. At , it is the second-longest highway in th ...

just south of

René Brunelle Provincial Park René Brunelle Provincial Park is a provincial park in both the municipality of Moonbeam and the geographic Township of Gurney in Unorganized North Cochrane District, Cochrane District, in Northeastern Ontario, Canada. Established in 1957 and ...

. It is known for its roadside

flying saucer A flying saucer, or flying disc, is a purported type of disc-shaped unidentified flying object (UFO). The term was coined in 1947 by the United States (US) news media for the objects pilot Kenneth Arnold UFO sighting, Kenneth Arnold claimed fl ...

, which is also featured prominently in promotional material. The town is most famously referenced in the song "Fly" by the Canadian rock band

The Tragically Hip The Tragically Hip, often referred to simply as the Hip, was a Canadian rock band formed in Kingston, Ontario in 1984, consisting of vocalist Gord Downie, guitarist Paul Langlois, guitarist Rob Baker (known as Bobby Baker until 1994), bassis ...

, on their 2006 album '' World Container.''

Origin of the name Moonbeam

The name "Moonbeam" is attributed to early pioneers who allegedly witnessed flashing lights falling from the sky, which they called "moonbeams". These lights fell down or reflected in a creek that flows west from Strickland to Rémi Lake and was called Moonbeam Creek. These lights could have been Northern Lights that often appear with the moon light. Another suggestion is that the name came from the passengers on the Transcontinental Railway, who would be traveling for many miles through dark forests and when they came to the natural clearing near Moonbeam would be struck by the brilliance of the moon-lit snow. Nevertheless, there is no documented proof of the exact source of this name. Rémi Lake was named after a Great Trunk Pacific Railway worker who drowned there in 1905.

History

The

National Transcontinental Railway The National Transcontinental Railway (NTR) was a historic railway between Winnipeg, Manitoba, and Moncton, New Brunswick, in Canada. Much of the line is now operated by the Canadian National Railway. The Grand Trunk partnership The completion o ...

, connecting

Quebec City Quebec City is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Census Metropolitan Area (including surrounding communities) had a populati ...

with the

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, was completed by 1912 and provided new access to agricultural land and natural resources of northern Ontario. This attracted colonizers from

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 ...

Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts () is a town in the province of Quebec, Canada, in the regional county municipality of Les Laurentides in the administrative region of Laurentides, also known as the "Laurentians" or the Laurentian Mountains (in English) ...

, and Saint-Jovite, to the Moonbeam area, looking for land to cultivate or mine. Timeline: * The first family to get established in Moonbeam was Théodule and Valentine Léonard in 1909. * The first baby born in Moonbeam was Marie Régina Lecuyer in 1914. * The priest, founder of Moonbeam, was Ovila François Paquette O.M.I. in 1916. * The first school to open its doors was in September 1919. * The first church to be built in Moonbeam was in 1919-1920, called Nativité de Moonbeam. * The first cottage to be built on the Rémi Lake is the cottage of a rich tourist from Rochester New-York, Mr. Buelle in 1920. * The first Reeve of Moonbeam was Joseph Girouard in 1922. * The first St-Jean Parade was in 1922. * The incorporation of the District of Fauquier was January 9, 1922. * The first doctor in the region was Doctor Nicole in Fauquier in 1924. * The first airplane in Moonbeam was a Curtiss HS-2L flown by Captain C.A. Schiller in 1925. * The first butter-production firm was open in 1927. It cost $3689.00 to build and $5954.00 for all the machinery. * The first doctor to open its doors in Moonbeam was Doctor Soucie in 1934. * 1930–1940, the speed limit was raised to 15 miles per hour. * 1930–1940, all stores were restricted to not sell tobacco to kids less than 18 years of age. * The chapel at Rémi Lake celebrated its first mass in 1960. * The sewage system in the village was installed November 1, 1965.

List of mayors

Mayors from incorporation in 1922 to present: * Joseph Girouard (1922–1923) * Célestin Desgroseillers (1924–1928) * Vital Filion (1929–1931) * Cléophas Desgroseillers (1932–1935) * Albert Gaudreault (1936–1938) * Guillaume Soucie (1939–1942) * Ernest Léonard (1943–1946) * Alexandre Lacroix (1947–1950) * Jos. Aimable Turcotte (1951 and 1955–1958) * Francis St-Aubin (1952–1954) * Stanislas Lavoie (1959–1972) * Raymond Bouchard (1972–1978) * Gaëtan Filion (1979–1985) * Olivain Fullum (1985–1997) * Claude D'Amours (1997–2000) * Gilles Audet (2000–2018) * Nicole Fortier Levesque (2018–2024)

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 ...

, Moonbeam 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. Population: * Population in 2016: 1231 * Population in 2011: 1101 * Population in 2006: 1298 * Population in 2001: 1201 * Population in 1996: 1322 * Population in 1991: 1330 Mother tongue: * English as first language: 18.4% * French as first language: 78.8% * English and French as first language: 1.2% * English, French and Other as first language: 0.4 * Other as first language: 1.2%

References

External links