Redwater is an unincorporated place and

railway point A railroad switch ( AE), turnout, or (set of) points ( CE) is a mechanical installation enabling railway trains to be guided from one track to another, such as at a railway junction or where a spur or siding branches off. Design T ...

in the municipality of

Temagami Temagami, formerly spelled Timagami, is a municipality in northeastern Ontario, Canada, in the Nipissing District with Lake Temagami at its heart. The Temagami region is known as ''n'Daki Menan'', the homeland of the area's First Nations com ...

Nipissing District Nipissing District is a district in Northeastern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario. It was created in 1858. The district seat is North Bay. In 2021, the population was 84,716. The land area is ; the population density was , making it o ...

, 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 ...

. It is 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 ...

Askin Township and is located on the shores of

Lower Lower may refer to: * ''Lower'' (album), 2025 album by Benjamin Booker *Lower (surname) *Lower Township, New Jersey *Lower Receiver (firearms) *Lower Wick Lower Wick is a small hamlet located in the county of Gloucestershire, England. It is sit ...

and Upper Redwater lakes along the

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 ...

. Redwater was the site of a settlement established in the early 1900s that survived into the 1950s.

History

Origin

The community of Redwater began its formation from a small

request stop In public transport, a request stop, flag stop, or whistle stop is a bus stop, stop or train station, station at which buses or trains, respectively, stop only on request; that is, only if there are passengers or freight to be picked up or drop ...

on the Northern Ontario Railway in 1903 when the railway reached the area of the Upper and Lower Redwater lakes.Ontario Ghost Towns: Redwater
/ref> During this time a small

train station A train station, railroad station, or railway station is a railway facility where trains stop to load or unload passengers, freight, or both. It generally consists of at least one platform, one track, and a station building providing suc ...

telegraph key A telegraph key, clacker, tapper or morse key is a specialized electrical switch used by a trained operator to transmit text messages in Morse code in a telegraphy system. Keys are used in all forms of electrical telegraph systems, includ ...

, a siding and water tank was constructed. The several men that worked on the railroad either lived in the train station or in a bunkhouse and two houses. At least one of the two houses was used to supply bosses of the crew.

1909 tragedy

The newly formed settlement was the site of a murder in 1909 that began when two railway employees named Cornish and Morin attacked W.J. Dyston who worked as the Redwater telegraph operator. After the attack took place, Dyston had been badly beaten and had to struggle in order to get to the telegraph key. When Dyston reached the telegraph key he managed to call for help. Subsequently, Dyston collapsed onto the telegraph key after he sent an incoherent message and died. It was during this time the name Redwater retained a new meaning for the settlement.

Formation and closure of the Redwater sawmill

A few years after the death of W.J. Dyston, the Redwater Lumber Company constructed a small

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logging, logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes ...

in the area.Ontario Abandoned Places: Redwater
/ref> Its

lumber yard A lumber yard is a location where lumber and wood-related products used in construction and/or home improvement projects are processed or stored. Some lumber yards offer retail sales to consumers, and some of these may also provide services s ...

s were located adjacent to Redwater's train station so that the lumber would easily be exported by train. A

bunkhouse A bunkhouse is a barracks-like building that historically was used to house working cowboys on ranches, or loggers in a logging camp in North America. As most cowboys were young single men, the standard bunkhouse was a large open room with narr ...

was created to supply homes for those that worked at the sawmill and subsequent houses were built along the railway. In 1916, a store and

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...

opened and were operated by a customer named T.J. Baker. The Redwater sawmill ceased around 1928 but the community still remained populated. A

railroad car A railroad car, railcar (American English, American and Canadian English), railway wagon, railway carriage, railway truck, railwagon, railcarriage or railtruck (British English and International Union of Railways, UIC), also called a tra ...

was used to supply a school from the 1940s up until the 1950s when at least five homes still existed.

Cessation of Redwater and later years

Because of the closure of the Redwater sawmill, the residents of Redwater only lived there for a time. The post office that opened in 1916 closed in 1942 but the train station still remained in 1945. Homes were subsequently destroyed, with the last burning down in the 1950s. In 1957, the Redwater water tower was burnt down. After this took place, a series of cottages were constructed on the

townsite A townsite is a legal subdivision of land for the development of a town or community. In the historical development of the United States, Canada, and other former British colonial nations, the filing of a townsite plat (United States) or plan ( ...

in the 1960s and are still used today. Remains of the early

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 ...

of Redwater are buried under extensive overgrowth and include foundations where the houses were located and a few

root cellar A root cellar (American and Canadian English), fruit cellar (Mid-Western American English) or earth cellar (British English) is a structure, usually underground. or partially underground, used for food storage, storage of vegetables, fruits, nu ...

s. An

aluminum Aluminium (or aluminum in North American English) is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Al and atomic number 13. It has a density lower than that of other common metals, about one-third that of steel. Aluminium has ...

shed behind the site of Redwater's original train station is used by the Ontario Northland Railway.

References

External links

*{{cite web, url=http://www23.statcan.gc.ca/imdb/p3VD.pl?Function=getVD&TVD=54080&CVD=54084&CPV=3548069&CST=01012006&CLV=3&MLV=3, title=Standard Geographical Classification (SGC) 2006, work=3548069 - Temagami, publisher=

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 ...

, date=2016-11-08, accessdate=2017-12-13
www.ghosttowns.com - Redwater
Ghost towns in Northern Ontario Populated places established in 1903 Localities of Temagami 1903 establishments in Ontario Ontario Northland Railway points