Nicholson, Ontario

Last updated
Aerial photograph taken in 1931 Aerial photo of Nicholson, Ontario, 1931.jpg
Aerial photograph taken in 1931

Nicholson is a ghost town in the Canadian province of Ontario, located on the Canadian Pacific Railway's White River Subdivision [1] main track 22.3 miles northwest of Chapleau in the Sudbury District. It is counted as part of Sudbury, Unorganized, North Part in Canadian census data.

Contents

History

Formerly a lumber mill town with an estimated population of 400 at its peak, the town was established in 1903 by the Austin-Nicholson company. It was populated primarily by Finnish and Franco-Ontarian workers and their families. A post office, a company store, a Canadian Pacific Railway station, an Anglican church and a school were established in the early 1910s.

Although the mill was profitable for many years, and Austin-Nicholson was the largest producer of railroad ties in the British Empire, the establishment of another mill at nearby Dalton Mills in 1921 limited the town's growth potential. The mill at Nicholson burned down in a fire in 1933 and was not replaced, as the company consolidated its operations at Dalton to reduce costs during the Great Depression.

A small number of residents continued to live at Nicholson until 1963, when the few remaining businesses were closed down and the remaining residents moved away. In the early 1970s, a proposal was advanced to preserve Nicholson as an historic site, although a fire later destroyed most of the surviving buildings at the townsite.

A NFB film made in 1958 mentions school children from Nicholson getting their schooling while riding a train.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Espanola, Ontario</span> Town in Ontario, Canada

Espanola is a town in Northern Ontario, Canada, in the Sudbury District. It is situated on the Spanish River, approximately 70 kilometres west of downtown Sudbury, and just south of the junction of Highway 6 and Highway 17. The town is where the first experimental rules for the sport of ringette were created in 1963 by Mirl Arthur "Red" McCarthy using a group of local high school girls. Today Espanola is considered "The Home of Ringette" while North Bay, Ontario is considered the "Birthplace of Ringette" though the title of "birthplace of ringette" is often shared by both.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walden, Ontario</span> Community in Ontario, Canada

Walden was a town in the Canadian province of Ontario, which existed from 1973 to 2000. Created as part of the Regional Municipality of Sudbury when regional government was introduced, the town was dissolved when the city of Greater Sudbury was incorporated on January 1, 2001. The name Walden continues to be informally used to designate the area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nickel Centre</span> Community in Ontario, Canada

Nickel Centre was a town in Ontario, Canada, which existed from 1973 to 2000.

Pakesley is a dispersed rural community and ghost town in geographic Mowat Township in the Unorganized Centre Part of Parry Sound District of Ontario, Canada. Located at the junction of Ontario Highway 522 and the Parry Sound subdivision of the Canadian Pacific Railway, it is named for the Pakeshkag River that drains the local area north to the Pickerel River. Formerly a station and passing track on the CPR, this portion of the line from Bala to Sudbury was opened to traffic June 15, 1908.

Nemegos is an unincorporated place and community in geographic Halsey Township in the Unorganized North Part of Sudbury District in Northeastern Ontario, Canada. It is on the Nemegosenda River in the James Bay drainage basin, and also is on the Canadian Pacific Railway transcontinental main line, between the railway points of Devon to the west and Tophet to the east.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chapleau, Ontario</span> Township in Ontario, Canada

Chapleau is a township in Sudbury District, Ontario, Canada. It is home to one of the world's largest wildlife preserves. Chapleau has a population of 1,942 according to the 2016 Canadian census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Unorganized North Algoma District</span> Unorganized area in Ontario, Canada

Unorganized North Algoma District is an unorganized area in northeastern Ontario, Canada, comprising all areas in Algoma District, north of the Sault Ste. Marie to Elliot Lake corridor, which are not part of an incorporated municipality or a First Nation. It covers 44,077.03 km2 (17,018.24 sq mi) of land, and had a population of 6050 in 2021. Many of these communities were/are stations on the Algoma Central Railway or were logging/mining towns.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Foleyet</span> Place in Ontario, Canada

Foleyet is an unincorporated community in the Unorganized North Part of Sudbury District in Northeastern Ontario, Canada, midway between Chapleau and Timmins on Highway 101. The town was created during the construction of the Canadian Northern Railway (CNR) through the area in the early years of the 20th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Biscotasing</span> Place in Ontario, Canada

Biscotasing, often referred to as simply Bisco, is a community in the Unorganized North Part of Sudbury District in Northeastern Ontario, Canada. It was founded on the shores of Lake Biscotasi on the Spanish River in 1884 by Canadian Pacific Railway as a railway construction town, and the first divisional point west of Sudbury. The rails of westward track laying gangs reached this area in October 1884.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Schreiber, Ontario</span> Township in Ontario, Canada

Schreiber is a municipal township in the Canadian province of Ontario, located on the northernmost point of Lake Superior along Highway 17. The town, with a population of approximately 1100 people, is almost completely located inside the geographic township of Priske, with a small western portion of the town in the southeast of Killraine Township.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nairn and Hyman</span> Township in Ontario, Canada

Nairn and Hyman is a township in the Canadian province of Ontario. The township, located in the Sudbury District, borders on the southwestern city limits of Greater Sudbury west of the city's Walden district. The township had a population of 342 in the Canada 2016 Census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spanish River derailment</span>

The Spanish River derailment was a rail transport accident that occurred on 21 January 1910, on the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) Webbwood Subdivision, where the railway crosses the Spanish River near the settlement of Nairn near Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. A westbound passenger express train derailed and crashed into the Spanish River bridge, killing at least 43 passengers, though the death count varies. The cause was never established, but was believed to be poor track condition and/or speeding and braking on a curve.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Huron Central Railway</span>

The Huron Central Railway is a railway operating in northern Ontario, Canada. It is operated by Genesee & Wyoming Canada, the Canadian subsidiary of Genesee & Wyoming.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baldwin, Ontario</span> Township in Ontario, Canada

Baldwin is a township in the Canadian province of Ontario. Located in Sudbury District north of Espanola, the township's two main communities and population centres are McKerrow and Lorne.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gogama</span> Place in Ontario, Canada

Gogama is a Northeastern Ontario community that is situated on Lake Minisinakwa, 580 kilometres north of Toronto, 191 km north of Sudbury, and 114 km south of Timmins. In the Canada 2011 Census, a population of 277 people was recorded. The community is counted as part of Sudbury, Unorganized, North Part in Canadian census data. It is not an incorporated municipality, but is administered by a local services board.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chapleau Crown Game Preserve</span>

The Chapleau Crown Game Preserve is a fur bearing animal preserve area in Ontario, Canada, north-east of Lake Superior. It covers some 7,000 square kilometres (2,700 sq mi) in the Algoma and Sudbury Districts, and is officially classified as a Crown Game Preserve by the Government of Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sudbury–White River train</span> Intercity train service in Ontario, Canada

The Sudbury–White River train, formerly the Lake Superior, informally called the Budd Car, is a Canadian passenger train operated by Via Rail serving communities between Sudbury and White River, Ontario three times a week. The timetable numbers for this train are 185 for the westbound and 186 for the eastbound.

Benny is an unincorporated community in the geographic township of Moncrieff in the Unorganized North Part of Sudbury District in Northeastern Ontario, Canada. It is located on Bannerman Creek west of Ontario Highway 144 and about 11 kilometres (7 mi) northwest of the community of Cartier. Benny is on the Canadian Pacific Railway transcontinental main line and has a siding, and it is the location of the Benny railway station flag stop on the Via Rail Sudbury – White River train service.

Kormak is an unincorporated area and ghost town in the Unorganized North Part of Sudbury District in Northeastern Ontario, Canada. It sat on the Canadian Pacific Railway transcontinental mainline, and the Kormak railway station is still active as a flag stop on Via Rail's Sudbury–White River train.

The Algoma Eastern Railway was a railway in Northeastern Ontario, Canada. Originally known as the Manitoulin and North Shore Railway (M&NS) with a charter dating back to 1888, the full mainline was opened to traffic in 1913, serving the area along the north shore of Lake Huron between Sudbury and Little Current on Manitoulin Island. It and its sister railway, the Algoma Central, were originally owned by the Lake Superior Corporation, a conglomerate centred on Sault Ste. Marie which was founded by the American industrialist Francis Clergue. Despite ambitious plans to expand across Lake Huron to the Bruce Peninsula using a railcar ferry, the company failed to develop further and was acquired by the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1930. With freight traffic low during the Great Depression, Canadian Pacific soon abandoned much of the Algoma Eastern mainline in favour of its own Algoma Branch. Remaining sections of the Algoma Eastern line were turned into spurs, with the longest surviving section operated as a branch line known as the Little Current Subdivision.

References

Coordinates: 47°57′00″N83°46′59″W / 47.950°N 83.783°W / 47.950; -83.783