Timmins
If Northern Ontario were to become its own province, I'm sure that Sudbury or Thunder Bay would end up being its capital. But for me, Timmins is it. Precariously perched between being the largest, most northerly city in Ontario and being literally on the edge of a frontier. Timmins is a contrast. Timmins is all at once both urban and rural, both the centre of northeastern Ontario (James Bay) and an isolated town more than eight hours from Toronto; Timmins is a gritty town that is beginning to bely its hard-scrabble mining-town roots. For me at least, Timmins is a whole other world. One that I like a lot.
Stompin' Tom at the Mpale Leaf Tavern, which also started Shania Twain's career
hollinger and mcintyre mines
highgrading and stock speculation built timmins
by 1928, the hollinger mine was the largest gold mine in the biritsh empire, eventually spanning more than 500 miles in underground tunnels
hollinger mine fire
Multicultural Mecca
Like much of the Porcupine Country, Timmins was surprisingly diverse, at least in terms of having a much greater diversity of European backgrounds than your tupical Canadian town. Attracted by work in the mines, many workers cam eover as migrants to make money to send home, while others came permnanetly as young men sough work in the mines, especially when the mines were one of the few places hiring during the Depression. At its peak, the neighbourhoods of Timmins reflected the multicultural diversity that Toronto would not be known for (albeit on a much larger scale) until the 1960s. Beyond the usual British elements, Timmins had Franco-Ontarians, Italians, Croats, Serbs, Syrians, Jews, and Scandinavians.
reds vs whites, ukrainian and finn factions, two separate community halls for many groups along political lines from the old country
depends on when you arrived, early 1910s were reds, later settlers were whites
two co-ops
Many of the ethnic communities have left the Porcupine, with the successive generations of immigrants' children eschewing a future working underground or in local shops for safer, steadier work, better education, and the bright lights of Southern Ontario. Today, Timmins is notably less diverse than it has been in the past.
Eating and Sleeping
If people tell you. The main hotel in town is The Senator is really just the Days Inn. Rock in the lobby, eskimos on the walls
There is the Howard Johnson
The Mattagami Motor Inn, affectioned known locally as the "Matag" is not a hotel, it's a strip joint.
Generaly, I've stayed out of town at the Royal Motel in South Porcupine, but this requires having a car.
As for breakfast, I would recommend stopping in at La Chaumiere. Located on the first floor of the Franco-Ontarian club, the Chaumiere serves a knockout breakfast. it's greasy, but it's good. Better than good, it beats your standard pub-cooked english breakfast handsdown. Other breakfast options include Mike's Restaurant (on Algonquin Street on the way to Schumacher). Sneaking into the Senator to take advantage of their continental breakfast buffet
Lunch
Abundance of Chinese food, with no fewer than five restuarants. The best of the bunch is the one on Algonquin, a cute family-run joint. If you want true northern Ontario Chinese Food, visit the Lucky Star Cafe.
Colasacco's, one of the few remaining holdouts in the Moneta, the old Italian area of town, serves fresh pasta and sandwiches every lunch. You can get fresh homemade gnocchi or fettucine or minestrone or macaroni big enough for a complete filling lunch for no more than 5 or 6 bucks. I'm really partial to the gnocchi. I practically lived on it while I was in Timmins. Tofanello's (on Wilson) is also a good bet for Italian lunches or take-out suppers, but it's not as good as Colasacco's (in my opinion.)
No Harveys, mysteriously went out of business
Supper
East Side Mario's
Beer and Snacks
The Moneta tavern, an old highgrading tavern, serves the most fantastic chicken wings I've ever tasted, although further chicken wing tasting has led me to beleive they're simply coated with shake and bake. They bring out your beer in ice-chilled glass steins.
The Chuamiere
Poutineland
Amigo's is the only club in town. I've never been in it, but boy does it look dirty.
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