HISTORY IS ALIVE IN MANITOUWADGE – 3 of 3

Posted byedgarlavoiePosted inUncategorized
In 1954, the Geco camp sprang up on the slope just north of Manitouwadge Lake. This is an image from 1959. Source Facebook/ManitouwadgeUsedtoBeMyHometown…andStill Is.

On September 13, I was in town visiting my brother, John. One of the hats John wears is that of President of Manitouwadge Archival and Historical Society. You may detect some bias when I write of the support or lack of support the Town gives its museum.

In contrast, the Towns of Schreiber and Marathon give full support to their museums. They provide modern facilities, reasonable budgets, and advertising/publicity, and hire staff. Manitouwadge does none of these. Manitouwadge levies taxes  ̶   yes, taxes  ̶   on their community-owned building. Friends of the Manitouwadge museum carry the full burden.

Whenever I think of the Town “fathers” of Manitouwadge, I get upset. Very upset. That’s no way to treat Manitouwadge history. No way to treat community volunteers. No way for fathers to treat their children.

Okay. Okay. I’ve taken a deep breath. Let me tell you about my visit to the museum.

After a busy tourist season, the museum is closed except by appointment. One may be forgiven if, upon walking through the door, one has the feeling that one is in a church. That’s because the museum is a church, a deconsecrated church that used to be the Anglican Church of the Holy Spirit. Besides, the cross over the door and the steeple on the roof are other give-aways.

The Manitouwadge museum betrays its origin to this very day.
Two outdoor exhibits.
In 2006, the Anglican diocese donated the deconsecrated church on condition that it maintain its altar setting.
The furry and feathered critters are on loan.
A miner wears specialized equipment and clothing. In 1953, three Geraldton residents made the great base metal strike that became Geco and Willroy mines. Roy Barker, Bill Dawidowich, and Jack Forster became millionaires overnight.
The construction of the Geco mine in 1956. Source Source Facebook/HistoricNorthernOntario.
Shelves may be crowded with one may assume are bric-a-brac, but each artifact has its own story. Each time a visitor returns, he or she finds
something new to marvel at.
I, the writer, am gratified to find my own publications in this display. I founded The Squatchberry Journal in 1975 as a magazine of art,
literature, and history.
One treasure that one always finds in a museum is a rare book. The Makers of Canada series is a compendium of history articles.
This volume was presented in 1927 to Crawford Avenue School in Fort William. The school is no longer operating; in its place is a church
called Hope. Ironic, eh?

It was delightful to crack Volume 5 of the The Makers of Canada series and at the first crack, find an article by Stephen Leacock. Leacock wore many hats: teacher, historian, humorist, writer. . . Our lives differed in two major respects: I will never be as famous and, some would say, as talented as he was. And second, Leacock’s family home near Orillia was turned into a museum. My condo unit will never be a museum. An archives, maybe.

The holy spirit of history lives on at the Manitouwadge museum. Okay, one last remark about the Town fathers. Perhaps one day they too will be touched by the spirit. History is eternal. It never gives up on anybody.

P.S. Opinions expressed are strictly my own.

Clay Pettapiece’s store circa 1955. The description reads “Clay’s 1st place, or perhaps the 2nd after the tent”. Source Facebook/ManitouwadgeUsedtoBeMyHometown…andStill Is.
Not strictly identified as Clay’s store, but the resemblance is remarkable. The description reads “This was the store in Manitouwadge, before the Hudson’s Bay opened. It was on Adjala [Avenue]. This was dated 1956”. Another comment was “I do recall a wee store in town. Not far from our churches.” The churches were located on Adjala Avenue; one of them became the museum. In the image, one can make out the public school in the background, under construction. Source Facebook/ManitouwadgeUsedtoBeMyHometown…andStill Is.
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