Fraserdale
and the Abitibi Canyon Colony
Fraserdale is a small community approximately 170 kilometres north of Timmins.
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Fraserdale
began life as the railway stop three miles from the Abitibi Canyon Colony.
The colony, approximately 5 kilometres from present-day Fraserdale, was constructed by Ontario Hydro to house staff for nearby hydroelectric dams. At its height, the Abitibi Canyon Colony was home to 300 people. Major indoor facilities included a three-sheet curling rink, hockey rink, swimming pool, four-lane bowling alley, billiard room, library, gymnasium, and a theatre. The extent of these facilities were needed to help entertain families in such an isolated location.
However, the Abitibi Canyon Colony feel victim to isolation and economics. Children has to leave the colony for high school or complete final years by correspondence, often boarding with families in Timmins and Kapuskasing. The Abitibi Canyon Colony was the most extensive community ever built by Ontario Hydro, at its height housing up to 1500 residents. Until 1966, the community was only accessible by rail, and even then the train only ran three times per week. By the 1980s, the site cost well over 1 000 000$ per year to maintain. The Abitibi Canyon Colony was eventually phased out in 1980 over a two year period. Check out the Abitibi Canyon Reunion site for some old photos and memories.
According
to info from Don, Fraserdale wasn't much of a town while the Abitibi Canyon
Colony was up and running. Today Fraserdale is a small hydro community, and
acts as starting points for bush journeys and wilderness trips, most frequently
for canoeists who are travelling up the large rivers to Moosonee or Moose
Factory.
Recently, author Joseph Boyden wrote a short (fictional) story about the building of a dam in the Abitibi River canyon in his collected of short stories set in the north titled Born With A Tooth.
I didn't head up the road to Fraserdale during any of my journeys and couldn't find much on the net. Thanks to Patrick for the photos.
Can you add to this page? Please email me at info (at) highway11 (dot) ca
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Back to James Bay Frontier Map
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Spent some time in Fraserdale or the Abitibi
Canyon Colony? Have a story to share?
Post your experiences below.
Sorry, comments have been disabled due to an immense amount of spam.
If you have a comment, please email me: info (at) highway11 (dot) ca.
Here are the comments that made it through before I shut the comment feature
down.
— Janice Bishop from Peterborough on 2008-05-11 13:26:00
My parents built the soda shop in our basement in Abitibi Canyon in the early 1960's. Those were the most memorable years of my life. Me and my sister Dolly ran it during the summers for extra cash when we weren't babysitting for the neighbours. The Lavignes lived next door to us at the time. Although the soda shop was built to entertain the teenagers in town, many parents dropped in for milkshakes or banana splits. Amateur night was the best. Everyone got to sing, dance or play the guitar and generally have a great time.
— Clayton Ford Jr. from Kincardine on 2008-08-18 02:29:36
The Soda Shop in the Bishops basement was like Arnolds Drive-In on Happy Days---the ONLY place to go! Always wondered what happened to Janice and the rest of the Bishop family when they left the Canyon
— Laura Hildon & Gary K. Johnston from Bridgenorth, Ontario on 2008-11-27 00:36:30
The second printing of Memories Through the Mists of Time was just released. It is the story of the Reise family who live at New Post Hudson's Bay Post north of Abitibi Canyon, and then moved to Abitibi Canyon, after the dam was completed. If anyone wants more information they can contact us at birchbarkcanoe@nexicom.net
— Julien Lord Charest from Niagara Falls, Ont on 2009-03-06 20:47:13
We used to live @ Smokey Falls, my dad was operater in charge at the Hydro Plant ... i remember being young and having to travel through fraserdale to get back to Hwy 11 and go visit family in Kap & Hearst ... we actually went up in 2008 ... and there is almost nothing left at the smokey falls site and Fraserdale has seen better days lol
— Wayne from Edmonton Alberta on 2009-04-08 09:34:07
Fraserdale might look like its seen better days ..that is because the entire colony was shut down in 1982.Ontario Hydro deemed it too expensive to maintain and that was the end of it.Some of my best memories come from that tiny place in the middle of nowhere.Would I do it all over again ..no doubts in my mind,a very profound yes!!
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The Abitibi
Canyon from a helicopter.
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