The town centre lies 11km east of Hwy 11 on the banks of the Abitibi River, west of Lake Abitibi. Timmins, one of the largest cities in northern Ontario, is approximately 70 kilometres (43mi) to the southwest. The following communities are also within the municipal boundaries: Monteith, Nellie Lake, and Porquis Junction.
Iroquois Falls' primary industry was a large mill producing newsprint and commercial printing papers. In December 2014, the owner, Resolute Forest Products, announced its permanent closure.[3][4] There are also three hydro-electric dams nearby. The Monteith Correctional Complex, a provincial prison serving a regional catchment area, is located in the community of Monteith (named for Samuel Nelson Monteith).
History
The background of the town's name varies depending on the source, attributing it to invasions by the Iroquois on Huron or Ojibway villages. It is also unclear who has relayed the tale, settlers or the First Nations people themselves.[5]
Frank Harris AnsonIroquois Hotel, 1916Street in Iroquois Falls, 1917Abitibi paper mill, 1930Iroquois Falls railway station, c. 1930Ontario Northland Railway train crossing Driftwood River in Monteith, 2010
Iroquois Falls was built as a company town by Frank Harris Anson, owner of the Abitibi Power and Paper Company. Anson had been influenced by the garden city movement of urban planning, and was committed to building an elaborate town. A Chicago architectural firm was hired to design the landscaping and houses, and work crews began clearing land in 1913. The town's park and commercial developments were clearly separated from the paper mill, and the residential streets curved with a focus on the centre of the town. A large church was built, the first English Catholic Parish in Northern Ontario, and today remains a historic landmark. Anson's company town had a hospital, a school, and a company hotel. Employee homes were designed with gambrel roofs to resemble New England farmhouses, and their design and location reflected the employee's rank at the mill. Papermakers lived in double-adjoined homes, while senior managers lived on separate streets in single-family homes.[6]
Much of the town was destroyed by fire in 1916, though Anson continued his beautification program during the 1920s as the community rebuilt.[7]
The town's avant-garde style earned it the nickname "Anson's Folly".[6]
The town was incorporated in 1915, and a board of trade was chartered in 1926.[citation needed]
The paper mill created a dramatic change to the area, and people migrated to the community for work.[citation needed]
The creation of the Temiskaming and Northern Ontario Railway (now Ontario Northland Railway) greatly boosted the economy as there were few roads at the time.[citation needed]
As Iroquois Falls grew, two new communities within the town began to emerge. An area known first as "The Wye" (because the rail tracks split at this point) grew to the south, and was at first a ramshackle collection of cabins and shacks. It later became known as Ansonville, and was home to a number of business people and others who were shut out from the company town. In contrast to Iroquois Falls, Ansonville had little town planning, and no water, sewer, or electrical service. Insurance companies would not insure homes there because the risk of fire was too great, and the first residents were French-Canadians, Russians and Ukrainians. Animosity was frequent between Ansonville and Iroquois Falls, and many residents of Iroquois Falls condemned Ansonville "as a dark den of foreigners engaged in regular street brawls, illegal alcohol consumption, and other unsavoury activities"[6]:85
In 1921, Ansonville began to levy taxes, which led a group of residents to establish a third community named Victoria in the north-west section of the town. The name was later changed to Montrock.[6]
In 1979, the three communities were amalgamated into one town named Iroquois Falls.
The paper mill, then called Abitibi-Price, merged with Stone-Consolidated, and then with Donohue Forest Products, and finally with Bowater to create Abitibi-Bowater. On 17 April 2009, Abitibi-Bowater sought bankruptcy protection, emerging from it as Resolute Forest Products.
A tragic event occurred in 1984 at the coffee shop at Joe's Texaco in nearby Porquis Junction. Ontario Provincial Police constable Vern Miller was drinking coffee with his partner constable Norm Tiegen, when 23-year-old Gregg Prevost of Iroquois Falls entered and shot Miller with a shotgun, killing him instantly. The community was shocked and outraged, and Prevost was sentenced to life in prison. The town of Matheson renamed their local arena the Vern Miller Memorial Arena in his honour.[8]
Geography
Climate
Iroquois Falls falls within the northern periphery of the humid continental climate (Dfb) despite extreme January and February record lows that exceed that of many subarctic regions. In January 1935, the town set the record low temperature for Ontario of −58.3°C (−73°F), the town also happens to hold the unofficial February record low of −55.6°C (−68°F).[2] set in February 1899 (before the town was officially incorporated but weather was taken) and tied in February 1934 but it wasn't recorded at the location used for official temperature readings. Winter typically lasts from the end of October to well into April.
[9][10][11] Population figures reflect the town's 1979 amalgamation.
In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Iroquois Falls had a population of 4,418 living in 1,977 of its 2,153 total private dwellings, a change of -2.6% from its 2016 population of 4,537. With a land area of 599.03km2 (231.29sqmi), it had a population density of 7.4/km2 (19.1/sqmi) in 2021.[12]
Former Resolute Forest Products mill in Iroquois Falls
Resolute Forest Products announced the permanent closure of its mill in Iroquois Falls on 5 December 2014, eliminating 180 jobs. Mayor Michael Shea commented: "it's going to affect every village in Northern Ontario."[4]
In 2015, the Town of Iroquois Falls entered into an agreement with Resolute Forest Products, and Riverside Developments, regarding redeveloping the former mill site into a multi-use industrial facility, commercial-industrial park, or possibly a greenhouse complex.[16][17]
The Jus Jordan Arena arena and curling rinks were completed in 1955. The arena was designed and construction supervised by then Abitibi Paper Company engineer Jus Jordan.[18][19] entirely through the volunteer effort of townspeople.
There is a Hockey rink with a full surrounding of seats, a Curling rink with five playing surfaces, a cafeteria and a licensed lounge. A pool was added in 1979, and the complex was renovated in 2007.
The Iroquois Falls Curling Club is located at the arena.
Each summer brings the "Search for Moby Pike" fishing derby on Lake Abitibi.
'MusicMusicMusic' was an annual live event on the second weekend of August, and featured local musicians raising funds for community charities.
The Porquis Blues Festival, later renamed the Porquis Music Festival, was an annual festival in Porquis Junction, a small community south-west of Iroquois Falls. The last festival was in 2022.
Canadian musician Stompin' Tom Connors sang "May, the Millwright's Daughter" on his 1967 album The Northlands' Own Tom Connors:
In a little town called Ansonville, not very far from the papermill. There lives a girl I'm thinkin' of, May, the millwright's daughter, the girl I really love.[22]
Abitibi Consolidated Inc. was a Canadian pulp and paper company based in Montreal, Quebec. Abitibi-Consolidated was formed from the merger of Abitibi-Price Inc. and Stone Consolidated Corp. on May 29, 1997; the Company merged with Bowater in 2007 to form AbitibiBowater.
Bowater Inc. was a paper and pulp business headquartered in Greenville, South Carolina. It merged with Abitibi-Consolidated in 2007, and the combined company went on to become Resolute Forest Products.
Espanola is a town in Northern Ontario, Canada, in the Sudbury District. It is situated on the Spanish River, approximately 70 kilometres (43 mi) west of downtown Sudbury, and just south of the junction of Highway 6 and Highway 17.
Unorganized North Cochrane District is an unorganized area in the District of Cochrane in Northeastern Ontario, Canada. It comprises all parts of the district north of Timmins and Iroquois Falls which are not part of an incorporated municipality.
Grand Falls-Windsor is a town located in the central region of the island of Newfoundland in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, with a population of 13,853 at the 2021 census. The town is the largest in the central region, the sixth largest in the province, and is home to the annual Exploits Valley Salmon Festival. Grand Falls-Windsor was incorporated in 1991, when the two former towns of Grand Falls and Windsor amalgamated.
Cochrane is a town in northeastern Ontario, Canada. It is located east of Kapuskasing, northeast of Timmins, south of Moosonee, and north of Iroquois Falls. It is about a one-hour drive from Timmins and Kapuskasing, the other two major population centres of the region. It is the seat of Cochrane District. The town's population is made up of about half anglophone and half francophone residents.
The great Matheson Fire was a deadly forest fire that passed through the region surrounding the communities of Black River-Matheson and Iroquois Falls, Ontario, Canada, on July 29, 1916.
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.
The Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League (NOJHL) is a Junior ice hockey league and member of the Canadian Junior Hockey League and Northern Ontario Hockey Association. The winner of the NOJHL playoffs competes for the Centennial Cup along with the winners of the 8 other tier 2 junior A leagues across Canada.
The Timmins Rock are a Junior "A" ice hockey team from Timmins, Ontario, Canada. They are a part of the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League (NOJHL).
The Hearst Lumberjacks are a Junior "A" ice hockey team from Hearst, Ontario, Canada, under new ownership for the 2017–18 season. They are a part of the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League (NOJHL). As the Powassan Hawks, the team won two Dudley Hewitt Cups.
Smooth Rock Falls is an incorporated town in the Cochrane District in Northeastern Ontario, Canada, with a population of 1,330 at the 2016 census.
Donnacona is an industrial town located about 40 kilometres (25 mi) west of Quebec City in Portneuf County, Quebec, Canada.
Resolute Forest Products, formerly known as AbitibiBowater Inc., is a Canada-based pulp and paper company. Headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, the company was formed in 2007 by the merger of Bowater and Abitibi-Consolidated. At that time, the merged company was the third largest pulp and paper company in North America, and the eighth largest in the world.
The Iroquois Falls Storm are a Canadian Junior "A" Hockey team based out of Iroquois Falls, Ontario, Canada. They currently play in the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League and are former members of the Greater Metro Junior A Hockey League. The team was originally known as the Elliot Lake Bobcats in Elliot Lake, Ontario, until the 2014–15 season; where they moved to Cochrane, Ontario as the Cochrane Crunch until their move to Iroquois Falls in 2023. The Storm are the third NOJHL franchise to be located in Iroquois Falls after the Iroquois Falls Jr. Eskis/Abitibi Eskimos (1999-2015) and Iroquois Falls Eskis (2015-17).
The Great Lakes Paper Company was the operator of the largest and most modern pulp and paper manufacturing facility in the world. The Company employed over 4,000 in Northern Ontario, starting in 1924 as a pulp mill at Fort William, Ontario. Great Lakes had a highly developed social network within the company, including a children's Christmas party held at a local arena, and an annual picnic held at a local park, as well as many sports teams and other social groups. The company's working environment was enhanced by cultural diversity. For example under the Government of Canada's immigration policy, the "Close Relatives Scheme" resulted in over 400 Ukrainian refugees being employed as workers after World War II.
Abitibi Power and Paper Company Limited was a forest products business based in Montreal, Quebec, that was founded in 1914. The firm was a mainstay of the Canadian newsprint industry in the first half of the 20th century, and now forms part of Abitibi-Consolidated.
The 2010 World U-17 Hockey Challenge was an international ice hockey tournament held in Timmins, Iroquois Falls, Cochrane / Kapuskasing, Kirkland Lake, New Liskeard, Ontario, Canada between December 28, 2009, and January 4, 2010. The venues used for the tournament included the McIntyre Arena in Timmins, Jus Jordan Arena in Iroquois Falls, Tim Horton Arena in Cochrane, the Kapuskasing Sports Palace in Kapuskasing, Joe Mavrinac Community Complex in Kirkland Lake, and the New Liskeard Arena in New Liskeard. The United States won its third title, defeating Canada Ontario 2-1 in the gold-medal game.
1 2 3 "Iroquois Falls, Ontario". Canadian Climate Normals 1971–2000 (in English and French). Environment Canada. 19 January 2011. Retrieved 13 February 2013.
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