Swastika | |
---|---|
Coordinates: 48°11′14″N80°10′35″W / 48.18722°N 80.17639°W | |
Country | Canada |
Province | Ontario |
Area | |
• Land | 3.14 km2 (1.21 sq mi) |
• Water | 0.51 km2 (0.20 sq mi) |
Swastika is a small community founded around a mine site in Northern Ontario, Canada in 1908. Today it is within the municipal boundaries of Kirkland Lake, Ontario. [1] It has frequently been noted on lists of unusual place names. [2]
Swastika is a junction on the Ontario Northland Railway, where a branch to Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec leaves the ONR's main line from North Bay, Ontario to Moosonee. Until 2012, the Northlander passenger railway service between Toronto and Cochrane served the Swastika railway station with connecting bus service running along Highway 66 into downtown Kirkland Lake. [1]
The town was named after the Swastika Gold Mine staked in the autumn of 1907 and incorporated on January 6, 1908.
James and William Dusty staked the claims alongside Otto Lake for the Tavistock Mining Partnership. The gold mine and town were named after the Sanskrit good-luck symbol swastika. [3] [4] The Temiskaming and Northern Ontario Railway had an engineers' camp nearby as they had to construct two railway bridges as they advanced northwards. The first usage of the name Swastika occurred in their 1907 Annual Report to indicate a water tank was located at the site to meet the needs of the steam trains that opened up northern Ontario. [5]
Prospectors and miners flocked to the area and after viewing the find at the Swastika Gold Mine they advanced even further throughout the surrounding region. In 1909 the Lucky Cross Mine adjacent to the Temiskaming and Northern Ontario Railway tracks began producing gold. A Mr. Morrisson started a farm and lodging alongside the tracks as early as 1907 and from there the community developed. [5]
Swastika had a population of 450 by 1911, with the Lucky Cross and Swastika Mines in operation. [4] : 33, 79 By 1911, a hotel and businesses were flourishing, the area to the east was heavily staked and in 1912 the major gold mines of Kirkland Lake were found and developed by Harry Oakes. Swastika was the main transportation link with the railway and communications centre. Churches, schools, community groups and organisations continued to provide the needs of the residents of the area. [5]
From 1945-1949, Swastika Mine was later called the Crescent Kirkland Mine. [6] [7]
During World War II, the provincial government removed the Swastika sign and replaced it with a sign renaming the town "Winston." The residents removed the Winston sign [8] and replaced it with a Swastika sign with the message, "To hell with Hitler, we had the swastika first." [9] [10]
The 1930s British socialite Unity Mitford, one of the famous Mitford sisters who were daughters to aristocrat David Freeman-Mitford, 2nd Baron Redesdale, was notorious for her extreme devotion to Adolf Hitler and support of Nazism and fascism. She was conceived in Swastika when her parents were there to investigate a gold claim investment in 1913. [8]
In 2008, the small community of Swastika celebrated the town's centennial.
In 2021, the Ontario Northland Railway's station was demolished. On May 26, 2021, the Province of Ontario announced plans to reinstate the Northlander passenger train between Toronto and Timmins and/or Cochrane.
As of 2023, the population of Swastika was approximately 500 people.
Timmins is a city in northeastern Ontario, Canada, located on the Mattagami River. The city is the fourth-largest city in the Northeastern Ontario region with a population of 41,145 at the 2021 Canadian census and an estimated population of 44,819 in 2023. The city's economy is based on natural resource extraction. It is supported by industries related to lumbering, and to the mining of gold, zinc, copper, nickel, and silver. Timmins serves as a regional service and distribution centre.
The Ontario Northland Railway is a Canadian railway operated by the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission, a provincial Crown agency of the government of Ontario.
Kirkland Lake is a town and municipality in Timiskaming District of Northeastern Ontario. The 2016 population, according to Statistics Canada, was 7,981.
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, the major city 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.
Cobalt is a town in Timiskaming District, Ontario, Canada. It had a population of 989 at the 2021 Census.
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.
The Nipissing Central Railway (NCR), sometimes known as the Temiskaming Streetcar Line, is a railway operating in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The line was originally an interurban streetcar system connecting New Liskeard, Haileybury and Cobalt on the western bank of Lake Temiskaming in northern Ontario from 1910 to 1935. The operating company continues to be used to operate the Ontario Northland Railway freight spur line between Swastika, Ontario and Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec as it was incorporated under a federal charter, avoiding the need to re-charter either end in its respective provinces.
Englehart is a town in the Canadian province of Ontario, located on the Blanche River in the Timiskaming District.
The Porcupine Gold Rush was a gold rush that took place in Northern Ontario starting in 1909 and developing fully by 1911. A combination of the hard rock of the Canadian Shield and the rapid capitalization of mining meant that smaller companies and single-man operations could not effectively mine the area, as opposed to earlier rushes where the gold could be extracted through placer mining techniques. Although a number of prospectors made their fortune, operations in the area are marked largely by the development of larger mining companies, and most people involved in the mining operations were their employees.
Val Gagné is an unincorporated rural community in the township of Black River-Matheson, Cochrane District, Ontario, Canada. It is located 1.5 km (0.93 mi) east of Highway 11, between Matheson and Iroquois Falls. For many years the community was accessible by train. The Ontario Northland Railway's Northlander from Toronto to Cochrane, which passed through Val Gagné, made its final passenger run in 2012. An Ontario Northland bus now stops at Val Gagné.
The Northlander was a passenger train operated by the provincially-owned Ontario Northland Railway in southwest and northeast Ontario, Canada. In 2012, rail service was discontinued and replaced with express bus service. Rail service will be reinstated in the mid-2020s with an expanded route, greater frequency, new Siemens Venture trainsets manufactured by Siemens Mobility, and various track and station upgrades. The new bi-directional route will run up to seven days a week from Toronto Union Station to Timmins, with an additional new rail connection from Timmins to Cochrane and express bus service from Matheson to Cochrane Station.
The Ontario Northland Transportation Commission (ONTC), or simply Ontario Northland, is a Crown agency of the Government of Ontario responsible for providing transportation services for passengers and goods in Northern Ontario. It reports to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario through the Minister of Transportation.
Ontario Northland Motor Coach Services is an intercity bus service operated by the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission, a Crown agency of the government of Ontario, Canada. Ontario Northland Motor Coach Services operates passenger and parcel transportation service in northern Ontario, with additional routes connecting northern Ontario to the Greater Toronto Area, Winnipeg, and Ottawa.
The Cobalt silver rush was a silver rush in Ontario, Canada that began in 1903 when huge veins of silver were discovered by workers on the Temiskaming and Northern Ontario Railway (T&NO) near the Mile 103 post. By 1905 a full-scale silver rush was underway, and the town of Cobalt, Ontario sprang up to serve as its hub. By 1908 Cobalt produced 9% of the world's silver, and in 1911 produced 31,507,791 ounces of silver. However, the good ore ran out fairly rapidly, and most of the mines were closed by the 1930s. There were several small revivals over the years, notably in World War II and again in the 1950s, but both petered out and today there is no active mining in the area. In total, the Cobalt area mines produced 460 million ounces of silver.
South River Railway Station is located in the community of South River in Ontario. The station was originally constructed by the Northern and Pacific Junction Railway, a subsidiary of the Northern and Northwestern Railway, in 1884. It was subsequently owned and operated by the Grand Trunk Railway and Canadian National Railways. It was a significant station stop along the historic route connecting Toronto to North Bay, and the Canadian Pacific Railway (1885). Transcontinental trains traveling between Toronto and Vancouver once frequented the station. It is likely the oldest wooden railway station in north-eastern Ontario. It is now a community heritage building in the town of South River.
Temagami station is a railway station in Temagami, Ontario, Canada.
Swastika station is a bus stop and former railway station located in the community of Swastika, Ontario, Canada. The railway station was established in 1908 along the Temiskaming and Northern Ontario Railway, now the Ontario Northland Railway line. The site of the former station continues to be served as a flag stop for intercity bus routes operated by Ontario Northland Motor Coach Services.
Matheson station is located in the township of Black River-Matheson in Ontario, Canada.
Cochrane station is an inter-city railway and bus station located in the town of Cochrane, Ontario Canada operated by the Ontario Northland Railway (ONR). It is the southern terminus of the Polar Bear Express service to Moosonee and former northern terminus of the discontinued Northlander route. The station is located in downtown Cochrane, south of the intersection of Railway Street and 7th Avenue. Its main entrance faces north to Railway Street. South of the station building, trains call at a low level platform adjacent to the ONR Island Falls Subdivision.
The Northland Pyrite Mine, also known as James Lake Mine, Rib Lake Mine, Harris Mine or simply Northland Mine, is an abandoned underground mine in Northeastern Ontario, Canada, located on the southwestern shore of James Lake in Best Township of Temagami. It was operated by the Northland Mining Company during the early 1900s with the construction of a 91 m (299 ft) shaft and many open-cuts north of the shaft. Minerals present at the mine include chalcopyrite, pyrite and pyrrhotite, deposited in Precambrian volcanic rock of the Canadian Shield.
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