|
Cobalt, Ont, Town, pop 1229 (2006c), 1229 (2001c), inc 1907. Cobalt, located about 480 km north of Toronto near the Québec border and Lake TIMISKAMING, lies between the clay belt to the north around New Liskeard and the heavily forested area of Temagami to the south. Extensive mining at the beginning of the 20th century so scarred the earth's surface that today Cobalt is surrounded by barren rock and tailings, with deep craters and mine shafts dug into the hills.
In 1903, work crews constructing the Temiskaming and Northern Ontario Railway (ONTARIO NORTHLAND) uncovered silver nuggets on the shore of Long Lake (Cobalt Lake), causing a stampede of prospectors. The town, named for the presence of cobalt in the ore, emerged on the west side of the lake to provide goods and services for the prospectors and mining companies that purchased the land around and under the townsite. The ethnic core of Cobalt was of British and French ancestry, but many people - primarily manual labourers - came from central and eastern Europe. Its silver production, ranked 4th in the world in 1910, gave the impetus for exploring the Precambrian Shield. Many who had apprenticed in Cobalt went on to develop the mineral resources of the north. Similarly, the technique acquired to mill Cobalt's silver ore furthered the nation's scientific and technological skills. Cobalt was thus the cradle of Canadian mining, and its success spurred the growth of neighbouring HAILEYBURY and NEW LISKEARD. Silver production peaked in 1911 but declined steadily after that. Today Cobalt is a depressed region, whose future would seem to depend on the development of tourism. The Cobalt Northern Ontario Mining Museum and the annual Miners' Festival attract numerous visitors each summer.
 Cobalt (Ont)
 LaRose MineLaRose Mine, 1910, one of the major producers of silver in the Cobalt area of Ontario (courtesy John Mitchell Coll/Canadian Kodak).
 Silver MiningRock cut at the Foster Mine, Cobalt, Ontario, 1905 (courtesy Northern Miner Press).
Author
DOUG BALDWIN
Links to Other Sites
Ontario Mining
This site chronicles the growth and regulation of mineral exploration and the mining industry in the Province of Ontario. From Library and Archives Canada.
Cobalt
The website for the historic town of Cobalt, Ontario. Check out the "Heritage Silver Trail" and other links to local museums and cultural attractions.
|
|
|
|
 |
|
| On Monday August 29, 1864 half the cabinet of the Canadian government boarded the
steamer Queen Victoria at Quebec. They had heard that representatives of Nova Scotia, New
Brunswick and PEI were meeting in Charlottetown to discuss Maritime union and they hoped to
crash the party... |
|
| Pierre Elliott Trudeau, politician, writer, constitutional lawyer, prime minister of Canada 1968-79 and 1980-84 (b at ... |
|
|
| Few countries were affected as severely as Canada by the worldwide Depression of the 1930s. It is estimated that ... |
|
|
| Louis Riel, Métis leader, founder of Manitoba, central figure in the NORTH-WEST REBELLION (b at Red River ... |
|
|
| Evangelical Christian Church, often called the Christian Church (Christian Disciples), is a denomination stemming from ... |
|
|
| Few countries were affected as severely as Canada by the worldwide Depression of the 1930s. It is estimated that ... |
|
|
| The Toronto Maple Leafs are a HOCKEY team, was formed in 1927 when Conn SMYTHE purchased and renamed the Toronto St ... |
|
|
| Sears Canada Inc, headquartered in Toronto, is a Canadian retailer incorporated in 1952. In 1953 operating under the ... |
|
|
| John Ware, "Nigger John," horseman, rancher (b near Georgetown, SC 1845; d near Brooks, Alta 11 Sept 1905). ... |
|
|
| Land claims are dealt with by a process established by the federal government to enable INDIANS, INUIT and ... |
|
Browse the rich visual resources of The Canadian Encyclopedia through thematic galleries of Canadian Art, History, Nature, People, and Science and Technology.
Illustrations, lively text, animations, sounds and games help make learning about Canadian history, art, geography, architecture and other topics entertaining as well as informative.
The ultimate test of your knowledge of Canada, trivial and otherwise. You can choose from more than 60 dynamic quizzes with visual or text clues. Your scores depend on the speed with which you answer and the number of clues you need. Results are sent to you by email and high scores are posted on the site.
This unique resource includes more than 6000 events from Canadian and world history. It can be searched by era, subject, keyword or date. To find out what happened on your birthday, select the month and day of your birth.
This selection of the 100 "greatest" events in Canadian history was made by editor in chief James H. Marsh to draw attention to events that have left an indelible memory in the minds of later generations.
| THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF MUSIC IN CANADA |
|
| Thomas (Shahan) Monohan. Bassist, teacher, b Louisville, Kentucky, 30 Jun 1937, naturalized Canadian 1971, d Toronto 20 Feb 1994; Artist Diploma (Curtis) 1958. He studied at the Curtis Institute with Roger Scott and played ... |
|
|
