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[POWER TO THE PEOPLE] The mines had Hydro power in 1934, but, it was not extendedto Geraldton until 1937. With electricity available[,] the peopleowning houses were eager to have the electric service. Manyhomes were wired by their owners with material from the mines[.Often] their handiwork was not inspected for safety . . .“The Geraldton Way”Continue reading “Part 16 – [Geraldton : An Alternative History]”

Posted in Historic Northern Ontario by Claude Nadon, April 18 at 11:58 AM •GeraldtonThe Globe and Mail always has some interesting stories about Northern Ontario. Here is one where three miners Bankfield Mine quit their job after seeing the Elf of the Mines as reported in March 1937. At the risk of detracting from thisContinue reading “GHOST OF BANKFIELD MINE”

THE SKIRMISH OF THE GERALDTON HOTEL The town was incorporated, the OPP had one officer stationedhere. Constable Les Heeney was to keep law and order, a mammothtask. He was barely acquainted with his responsibilitieswhen the second battle of the Geraldton Hotel seemed about tobegin. Constable Heeney dealt, very efficiently, with the matter[,]and it has sinceContinue reading “Part 16 – [Geraldton : An Alternative History]”

[WATER & FIRE] By 1936 there was a definite need for a water supply. Untilthen, people got their water from [communal] wells and depositedtheir waste in open ditches. Joe Errington installed the firstwater distribution system under the name Geraldton WaterworksCompany. There was a small wooden [500-gallon] water tank behindthe Geraldton Hotel that served a fewContinue reading “Part 14 – [Geraldton : An Alternative History]”

[THE GREAT GERALDTON FIRE] Geraldton was nearly wiped out by fire in the summer of ’36shortly after the townsite was founded. The dry weather ofJune caused the fire hazard[,] and July 4[,] the first firewas reported about a half mile from the southwest end of LittleLong Lac. This fire was put out. About two hoursContinue reading “Part 13 – [Geraldton : An Alternative History]”

[DOGS OF GERALDTON] There were many working dog teams in the early days ofGeraldton. Some could be rented, such as Avis now rents cars.A [fully equipped] dog team [one could rent] for 50 cents a day,or one could have the [month’s] groceries delivered from town toBell Island for 25 cents [(in Second Bridge area)].Dog teamsdeliveredContinue reading “Part 12 – [Geraldton : An Alternative History]”

[RECREATION] There were many recreational activities in the area duringthe early years. Each mine had a recreation committee and therewere great rivalries among the [various] mines during the hockeyand baseball seasons. The first hockey games were played on open[air] rinks. People from town would walk along the tracks to Kenwellsiding 5 or 6 miles westContinue reading “Part 11 – [Geraldton : An Alternative History]”

[HEALTH & SANITATION] There were no real regulations regarding health and sanitationin the early days. Some of the health officials became aware thatthere could be a possibility of a major epidemic unless somesort of regulations were set and [maintained]. Once the water was available[,] people installed septic [tanks]to dispose of waste water; some even installedContinue reading “Part 10 – [Geraldton : An Alternative History]”

TELEPHONE SERVICES The telephone was an early “resident” of Geraldton[. It] becamean accepted form of [communication] in the quickly developingcommunity shortly after the discovery of gold led to the rapidgrowth of the area in the early 1930’s. The first [long-distance]service was provided by Long Lac Telephones Limited for LittleLong Lac Mines (sic). The first officersContinue reading “Part 9 – [Geraldton : An Alternative History]”

THE JUNGLE The world was in the midst of the great depression when goldwas discovered in the Geraldton area. News of the discovery wasflashed across the country and the unemployed flocked to the areain hopes of finding employment as the mines began operations. The CNR had railway police stationed at both Jellicoe andLonglac and theContinue reading “Part 8 – [Geraldton : An Alternative History]”