Swastika, Ontario

Swastika
Swastika
	Swastika Fireman's Park
	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)

Last updated January 13, 2024

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]

History

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]

Lucky Cross Mill in Swastika (1918) LuckyCrossMillSwastikaOnt.png — Lucky Cross Mill in Swastika (1918)

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]

The Swastika Mine was later^{[ when? ]} called the Crescent Mine.^[6]

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^[7] and replaced it with a Swastika sign with the message, "To hell with Hitler, we came up with our name first."^[8]

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.^[7]

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 is approximately 500 people.

Related Research Articles

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.

Timiskaming is a district and census division in Northeastern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario. The district was created in 1912 from parts of Algoma, Nipissing, and Sudbury districts. In 1921, Cochrane District was created from parts of this district and parts of Thunder Bay District.

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 1,118 at the 2016 Census. The population is now closer to 943.

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 former interurban streetcar system connecting New Liskeard, Haileybury and Cobalt on the western bank of Lake Temiskaming in northern Ontario from 1910 to 1935. As the line had a federal charter, the operating company continues to be used to operate the Ontario Northland Railway freight spur line between Swastika, Ontario and Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec, avoiding the need to re-charter either end in its respective provinces.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Porcupine Gold Rush</span> 1909 gold rush in Northern Ontario, Canada

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.

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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 2026 with an expanded route, greater frequency, new Siemens Venture train sets manufactured by Siemens Mobility Ltd., 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ontario Northland Transportation Commission</span> Crown agency of the Government of Ontario

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.

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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.

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Swastika station is located in the community of Swastika, Ontario, Canada. It was established in 1908, along the Temiskaming and Northern Ontario Railway which is now the Ontario Northland Railway line.

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References

1 2 "Swastika – Ontario Highway 11 Homepage". Highway11.ca. Archived from the original on May 22, 2009. Retrieved February 15, 2010.
↑ Parker, Quentin (2010). Welcome to Horneytown, North Carolina, Population: 15: An insider's guide to 201 of the world's weirdest and wildest places. Adams Media. pp. xii. ISBN 9781440507397.^{[ permanent dead link ]}
↑ "How Swastika Camp was First Discovered". North Bay Nugget . North Bay, Ontario. May 27, 1911. p. 12. Retrieved September 19, 2022.
1 2 Pain, S.A. (1960). Three Miles of Gold. Toronto: The Ryerson Press. pp. 9–10. ASIN B006JB1EFY.
1 2 3 "Swastika Historical Plaque". Ontarioplaques.com. Archived from the original on March 14, 2010. Retrieved February 15, 2010.
↑ Barnes, Michael (1986). Fortunes in the Ground. Erin, Ontario: The Boston Mills Press. p. 171. ISBN 091978352X.
1 2 Hopper, Tristin (January 31, 2017). "The Nazi from Swastika, Ont.: How Canada's most unusually named town spawned a notorious Hitler fangirl". National Post. Retrieved November 26, 2021.
↑ McIntyre, Catherine (September 15, 2017). "Why the swastika can't be rehabilitated". Maclean's . Retrieved June 28, 2021.

48°06′N80°06′W / 48.100°N 80.100°W / 48.100; -80.100

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[highway11-1] 1 2 "Swastika – Ontario Highway 11 Homepage". Highway11.ca. Archived from the original on May 22, 2009. Retrieved February 15, 2010.

[2] Parker, Quentin (2010). Welcome to Horneytown, North Carolina, Population: 15: An insider's guide to 201 of the world's weirdest and wildest places. Adams Media. pp. xii. ISBN 9781440507397.^{[ permanent dead link ]}

[3] "How Swastika Camp was First Discovered". North Bay Nugget . North Bay, Ontario. May 27, 1911. p. 12. Retrieved September 19, 2022.

[Pain-4] 1 2 Pain, S.A. (1960). Three Miles of Gold. Toronto: The Ryerson Press. pp. 9–10. ASIN B006JB1EFY.

[timiskamingplaque-5] 1 2 3 "Swastika Historical Plaque". Ontarioplaques.com. Archived from the original on March 14, 2010. Retrieved February 15, 2010.

[Barnes-6] Barnes, Michael (1986). Fortunes in the Ground. Erin, Ontario: The Boston Mills Press. p. 171. ISBN 091978352X.

[np-7] 1 2 Hopper, Tristin (January 31, 2017). "The Nazi from Swastika, Ont.: How Canada's most unusually named town spawned a notorious Hitler fangirl". National Post. Retrieved November 26, 2021.

[8] McIntyre, Catherine (September 15, 2017). "Why the swastika can't be rehabilitated". Maclean's . Retrieved June 28, 2021.

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