Nipigon
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Located on the most northern point of Lake Superior, Nipigon is pretty much the only true town between Geraldton and Thunder Bay. You know what this means. Out of the way Tim-Br Mart. Move over Home Hardware. Nipigon has a Canadian Tire.
When you drive into many
northern towns, there’s usually a sign telling you that they’re the home of
a semi-famous Canadian celebrity. Figure skater Kris Wirtz has
a sign outside of Marathon. Boxer Domenic Filane has a sign outside
of Schreiber. Shania Twain has about twelve signs leading three directions
into Timmins. Well, fooling around on the internet one day I found out that
a crater on Mars was named after Nipigon.
Why isn’t this on a sign beside the highway? You could put “Nipigon - we’re so out of this world they named a crater on Mars after us!” or something like that. Moonbeam would kill for this! I'd pledge 50$ toward that...
Instead, you’re greeted by a sign that tells you that churches are open Sundays and are directed to a ‘scenic lookout’ which looks out over a cemetery. Is this considered a God’s-eye view? Nipigon does have an abundance of churches, and the town’s Catholic Church even has a little shrine beside its virgin Mary statue.
Fishing, forestry, tourism are the mainstays of Nipigon’s 2000 people. (I wonder if they did the census in the summer, and how that would impact the head-count - there seem to be some cottages in the area.) Nipigon is blessed with a beautifully scenic little harbour, complete with a waterfront park, a boat launch, and hiking trails. It even has a nice little kid’s bookshop, and a stained glass store to boot.
Paintings
and Big Things
Nipigon seems to love murals. I counted four, plus the town museum which has paintings on it as well. The one on the Legion celebrates forestry. Another recognizes the history of the railroad. A third shows the town’s first general store. A fourth celebrates ‘northern Ontario time’ - encouraging workers to call in sick in order to go fishing. It's a great idea. I'm a sucker for any kind of public art.
Like most northern Ontario towns, Nipigon has a festival and a something big displayed in town. Every August long weekend the town celebrates the Blueberry Blast festival, although I was there on the long weekend and didn’t see any blueberries raining down anywhere in the town. In the ‘something big’ category, Nipigon has two entries, 1) a historic turbine taken from the electrical plant up the river, and 2) a big trout on the highway.
Nipigon is the best stop to eat or refuel
before you hit Thunder Bay or
Geraldton. There is a foodmart, a Robin’s
Doughnuts, multiple gas bars, a Beer Store, a Mac’s Milk, a few motels, a
bank or two, a Subway where I waited 70 minutes to get a sub (beware of people
coming in from camps and ordering 12 subs each), and a Pizza Pizza/KFC outlet.
Out on the highway there’s Gus’ Broasted Chicken, for those wanting a non-fast
food meal.
(Oddly, east of Nipigon past Highway 11 there is an ad for construction company in based in Hearst. That’s past Highway 11. In the opposite direction of Hearst. Really, it’s nowhere at all near the town. Do the owners know where they’re being advertised?)
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