Unorganized Thunder Bay District is an

unorganized area An unorganized area or unorganized territory () is any geographic region in Canada that does not form part of a municipality or Indian reserve. In these areas, the lowest level of government is Provinces and territories of Canada, provincial or te ...

in northwestern

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 ...

Thunder Bay District Thunder Bay District is a district#Ontario, district and Census divisions of Canada, census division in Northwestern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario. The County seat, district seat is Thunder Bay. Most of the district (93.5%) is uni ...

. It comprises all parts of the district that are not part of an incorporated municipality or a

First Nations reserve In Canada, an Indian reserve () or First Nations reserve () is defined by the ''Indian Act'' as a "tract of land, the legal title to which is vested in Her Majesty, that has been set apart by Her Majesty for the use and benefit of a band." R ...

. Most of the territory is within the

Eastern Time Zone The Eastern Time Zone (ET) is a time zone encompassing part or all of 23 U.S. states, states in the eastern part of the United States, parts of eastern Canada, and the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico. * Eastern Standard Time (EST) is five ...

, but the part west of the 90th meridian is in the

Central Time Zone The North American Central Time Zone (CT) is a time zone in parts of Canada, 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 ...

Geography

Communities with
Local services board A local services board (LSB) is an organization in the Canadian province of Ontario that is contracted by the Government of Ontario to provide municipal-level services in a community that is not part of an incorporated municipality. Most local ser ...

* Armstrong * East Gorham * Hurkett *

Kaministiquia Kaministiquia () is a community in the Canadian province of Ontario, located in the Thunder Bay District on Highway 102 approximately 30 kilometres west of Thunder Bay. A designated place served by a local services board, Kaministiquia had a p ...

* Lappe *

Rossport Rossport (), also known as Rosdoagh, is a Gaeltacht village and townland in northwest County Mayo, Ireland. It is within the barony of Erris and parish of Kilcommon. It lies close to the mouth of Broadhaven Bay on the headland where the co ...

* Shebandowan

Other communities

*Auden *

Burchell Lake Burchell Lake is a ghost town in the Canadian province of Ontario, located behind a locked gate at the southern end of Highway 802 in the Thunder Bay District.Ron Brown, ''Ontario's Ghost Town Heritage''. Boston Mills Press, 2007. . The town exi ...

* Collins * English River (on boundary with

Kenora District Kenora District is a district and census division in Northwestern Ontario, Canada. The district seat is the City of Kenora. It is geographically the largest division in Ontario: at , it covers 38 percent of the province's area, making it larger ...

) * Finmark *Hemlo *Heron Bay *

Kashabowie Kashabowie is an unincorporated place and Compact Rural Community in southwestern Thunder Bay District in Northwestern Ontario, Northwestern Ontario, Canada. It is on the Canadian National Railway Kashabowie Subdivision Main line (railway), main ...

* Nolalu *Ombabika *Pays Plat * Raith *

Savant Lake Savant Lake is an unincorporated place and community in Unorganized Thunder Bay District in northwestern Ontario, Canada. History The town was founded when the National Transcontinental Railway was built in the early 1900s. It was originall ...

* Shabaqua * Shabaqua Corners *

Silver Islet Silver Islet refers to both a small rocky island and a small community located near the tip of the Sibley Peninsula in northwestern Ontario, Canada. A rich vein of nearly pure silver was discovered on this small island in 1868 by the Montr ...

* Silver Mountain *Sorrell Lake *Suomi * Upsala

History

Gold was noted in the area since 1869, but it wasn't until Peter Moses from Heron Bay, Ontario discovered additional gold that prospectors flocked to the area. In 1947, Dr. J. Williams and Moses staked 11 claims, which became the Lake Superior Mining Corporation. However, not much development took place until 1979, when Don and David McKinnon, along with John Larche, staked claims in Hemlo and the

Manitouwadge Manitouwadge is a township (Canada), township in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. It is located in the Thunder Bay District, at the north end of Ontario Highway 614, Highway 614, east of Thunder Bay and no ...

area. The Williams Mine started operation in 1985, and produced 445,320 ounces of gold from a 2.45 meter wide ore body. The

Golden Giant Mine The Golden Giant Mine is a closed underground gold mine in Northern Ontario, near the towns of Manitouwadge and Marathon. Along with the David Bell Mine and Williams Mine, it is part of the Hemlo mining camp. During their peak years, they repr ...

produced 446,858 ounces in 1994 from a

quartz Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica (silicon dioxide). The Atom, atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon–oxygen Tetrahedral molecular geometry, tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tet ...

sericite Sericite is the name given to very fine, ragged grains and Aggregate (geology), aggregates of white (colourless) micas, typically made of muscovite, illite, or paragonite. Sericite is produced by the alteration of orthoclase or plagioclase feldsp ...

schist Schist ( ) is a medium-grained metamorphic rock generally derived from fine-grained sedimentary rock, like shale. It shows pronounced ''schistosity'' (named for the rock). This means that the rock is composed of mineral grains easily seen with a l ...

host rock. The David Bell Mines produced 204,251 ounces in 1994. The Hemlo gold mines had produced more than 6,000,000 ounces of gold by 1992.

Demographics

Population trend: * Population in 2011: 5909 * Population in 2006: 6585 * Population in 2001: 6223 * Population in 1996: 8460 (or 6534 when adjusted to 2001 boundaries) ** Land area: * Population in 1991: 8168

Parks in Unorganized Thunder Bay

Provincial parks in Unorganized Thunder Bay include: *

Albany River The Albany River ( ) is a river in Northern Ontario, Canada, which flows northeast from Lake St. Joseph in Northwestern Ontario and empties into James Bay. It is long to the head of the Cat River (a tributary of Lake St. Joseph), tying it wit ...

Provincial Park * Kopka River Provincial Park * Neys Provincial Park * Rainbow Falls Provincial Park *

Sleeping Giant Provincial Park Sleeping Giant Provincial Park, established in 1944 as Sibley Provincial Park and renamed in 1988, is a park located on the Sibley Peninsula in Northwestern Ontario, east of Thunder Bay. The nearest communities are Pass Lake, in the township o ...

* Steel River Provincial Park *

Wabakimi Provincial Park Wabakimi Provincial Park is a wilderness park located to the northwest of Lake Nipigon and northwest of Armstrong Station in the province of Ontario, Canada. The park contains a vast and interconnected network of more than 2,000 kilometres of la ...

It is also home to one National Park of Canada:

Pukaskwa National Park Pukaskwa National Park ( ) is a national park located south of the town of Marathon, Ontario in the Thunder Bay District of northern Ontario, Canada. Established in 1978, Pukaskwa is known for its vistas of Lake Superior and boreal forests. The ...

Transportation

Via Rail Via Rail Canada Inc. (), operating as Via Rail or Via (stylized as VIA Rail), is a Canadian Crown corporation that operates intercity passenger rail service in Canada. As of December 2023, Via Rail operates 406 trains per week across eight ...

's ''

The Canadian ''The Canadian'' () is a transcontinental passenger train operated by Via Rail with service between Union Station in Toronto, Ontario, and Pacific Central Station in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Canadian Pacific introduced this serv ...

'' serves the Unorganized Thunder District at the communities of Flindt Landing, Mud River, Ferland, and Auden.

References

External links

{{Thunder Bay District Geography of Thunder Bay District

Thunder Bay Thunder Bay is a city in and the seat of Thunder Bay District, Ontario, Canada. It is the most populous municipality in Northwestern Ontario and the second most populous (after Greater Sudbury) municipality in Northern Ontario. Its population i ...

Populated places on Lake Superior in Canada