Greenstone, Ontario
| Municipality of Greenstone | |
|---|---|
| — Town — | |
| Motto: "Spirit of the North" | |
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| Country | Canada  |
| Province | Ontario  |
| Region | Northwestern Ontario |
| District | Thunder Bay District |
| Government | |
| - Mayor | Michael Power |
| Area | |
| - Land | 2,780.56 km2 (1,073.6 sq mi) |
| Population (2006) | |
| - Total | 4,906 |
| Time zone | EST (UTC-5) |
| - Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC-4) |
| Postal code span | P0T |
| Area code(s) | 807 |
| Website | Municipality of Greenstone |
Greenstone (Canada 2006 Census population 4,906) is an amalgamated town in the Canadian province of Ontario. Prior to amalgamation, the 1996 population was 6,530. The area of the town was 2,780.56 square kilometres (1,073.58 sq mi) and is one of the largest incorporated towns in Canada.
The town was formed in a wave of community amalgamations under the Progressive Conservative government of Ontario's Municipal Act RSO 1990 c.M.45 in 2001, encompassing the communities of Nakina, Geraldton, Longlac, Beardmore, Caramat, Jellicoe, Macdiarmid and Orient Bay. Nakina and Caramat are entirely exclaved from the rest of the town.
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History
Nakina was first established in 1923, as a station and railway yard, on the National Transcontinental Railway, between the divisional points of Grant and Armstrong. Nakina was at Mile 15.9 of the NTR's Grant Sub-Division. Following the 1924 completion of Canadian National Railways's Longlac-Nakina Cut-Off, connecting the rails of the Canadian Northern at Longlac and the NTR, Nakina became the new divisional point, at which time the buildings from the town of Grant (25 kilometers to the east) were moved to the new Nakina town site.
As an important railway service stop from 1923 until 1986, the town had a railway round-house as well as a watering and fueling capability. During World War II, there was also a radar base on the edge of the town intended to watch for a potential attack on the strategically important locks at Sault Ste. Marie at the intersections of Lake Superior and Lake Huron. Research into the radar site in the National Archives of Canada indicates that it was largely a United States Army Air Forces operation, that pre-dated the later Pinetree Line radar bases that were erected shortly thereafter focussing on the cold-war threat. The Nakina base was totally removed shortly after the war.
As home to eight former producing gold mines which operated between 1936 and 1970 in the heart of the Canadian Shield, the Geraldton-Beardmore Gold Camp hosts numerous mineralized zones which continue to be explored for potential development.
In the 1970s pulp and paper operations near the town resulted in growth in the towns population to its peak of approximately 1200. However, at this point cost controls in the railway industry meant that service and maintenance could be consolidated at points much more distant from one another than had been common in the first half of the 20th century. As a result, the value of Nakina as a railway service community was greatly diminished, to the point where it was no longer a substantial employer in the town.
As of 2004[update] the town remains focussed on tourism, diminished pulp and paper operations, and support of other more northern communities (food, fuel and transportation). Mining and minerals industries are often seen as a source of further growth, though the Canadian Shield geology of the area makes extraction of minerals like gold an expensive operation. With developments in 2009 prospects of involvement in the Ring of Fire development with a slated ore transport point around Nakina may seen the major local industry shift from logging to its earlier history of mining industry. In 2010 the ring of fire development, proposed James Bay rail link and placement of processing plants remains of great economic interest for the region. Development is slated to move over the next 3 to 5 years in an over 1.5 Billion dollar project.
Government
Greenstone's mayor is Michael Power.
The Greenstone Public Library has branches in Beardmore, Geraldton (the Elsie Dugard Centennial Branch), Longlac and Nakina (the Helen Mackie Memorial Branch).
In film
The CBC first nations television series Spirit Bay was shot here in the mid-1980's at the Biinjitiwabik Zaaging Anishnabek First Nations Reserve.
See also
- Beardmore Relics, Viking Age artifacts 'found' near Beardmore, Ontario; supposedly evidence of Vikings in Ontario.
External links
- Municipality of Greenstone
Coordinates: 49°45′39″N 87°17′8″W / 49.76083°N 87.28556°W
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