Hurkett
Hurkett is actually three kilometres south of Highway 11. At first glace, I thought that there wasn’t much there. I counted about three houses near the highway, and another three further in. In all it was a five minute detour.
So I posted these impressions online, and promptly started developing a really bad reputation with the local population.
One resident sent an email incensed that I had gotten things so wrong about her community. Another told me that some townsfolk were reporting that there was a website stating that there was nothing in Hurkett, and that, according to this emailer, "well, that just couldn't be true.." One particularly memorable email stated that us southerners (they assumed) just couldn't give a crap about the north (they assumed), and that I wouldn't know a nice town if it smacked me in the head and if I had any eyes, ears, or brains at all (did they assume I had any? Or that I didn't have any? I will assume that they assumed the latter) well then I'd have seen this wonderful little community, but because I come from Toronto (they assumed), a place where people are shot on the street on a daily basis, then I must be another half-wit southerner (they assumed) who should just stay the heck out of the north. Wow.
However,
there were also some much more reasonable emails from Hurkettians (sp?) informing
that I had, indeed, misrepresented their community.
Dawn emailed me to tell me that I had, once again gotten things wrong. It
turns out that Hurkett is community of approximately 100 households (not 6!)
and 300 people just off the Highway. My apologies to the poeple of
Hurkett for missing the essence of their community.
Dale emailed to tell me that Hurkett has a nice public dock on Black Bay where you can fish (there is a local fly fishing company in town.) There is a community centre, a fire station, an arena that was volunteer-built (like Iroquois Falls), and nearby is the Hurkett Cove Conservation Area.
On my quick drive through, the things I noticed were a wetland, a strawberry farm, a tree nursery, and a “walk-in cooler for all your cold storage needs.” I'm hoping to add to this with more about Hurkett's past and present, if I can. Email me at info (at) highway11 (dot) ca. Thanks to Dale and Dawn for the info on Hurkett, and my apologies to the other Hurkettites (sp?) that I offended with my earlier profile of Hurkett.
Back to Thunder Bay District Map
- - - - - - - - - - - -
Post your experiences in Hurkett below.