Nakina
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Nakina is village of approximately 700 people on Highway 584. The village is situated approximately 60 kilometres north of Geraldton - making Nakina one of Ontario's more remote towns on the road network.
With
700 people today, Nakina is essentially the remnants of an old railway town.
The town was founded in 1913 due to the junction of the railway - after Nakina
the rail lines branch southwards towards Toronto or east towards Quebec. This
made Nakina an ideal spot for a railway centre. In its heyday, Nakina
has a fully functioning roundhouse, with fuel, servicing, and train-turning
facilities.
The 1940s saw Nakina get a radar base. Built in World War Two, the base was designed to protect the important locks between Lakes Huron and Superior at Sault Ste. Marie. Like many of Canada's old radar bases, it was operated by the United States, but dismantled soon after the Second World War.
Nakina
hit a boom in the 1970s when, in addition to its railway functions, the town
was home to a large paper mill. This boosted the population to nearly double
what it is today. Currently, however, minerals exploration and tourism are
the largest industries today. Nakina is a starting point for many northern
fly-in lodges. You can fly to lakes such as Makokibatan, part of the Albany
River system. Fish for walleye, northern pike as well as brook trout.With
both the pulp and railway industries definitely on the wane, it may be hard
for Nakina to stem out-migration and beat the odds of being such a remote,
northern town.
Nakina advertizes along Highway 11 with its mascot, the “Nakina Mosquita”... I wish I had taken a photo of one of those signs. Thanks to Keith for sending in the photos of the rail station and of the end of Highway 584.
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