After spending our first night in Rouyn Noranda in QC/ Abitibi Temiscamingue, we took the road to Ontario to Hearst, and we stopped in Kapuskasing. It was a stop like that because the way was not very interesting and there was not so much to see. The landscapes have changed, and I’m missing the lakes and the infinite forest with their trees.
We did stop in the Ron Morel Memorial Museum where we learned a lot about the town.
How was Kapuskasing found?
Kapuskasing was found in 1911 when the National Transcontinental Railway under construction at this moment reached the present site. Three years later, during the first World War, the Canadian government established a prisoner of war camp and an experimental farm to investigate the agricultural potential of the Clay Belt. The prisoners cleared land and worked on the farm. In 1917, the Ontario government launched near here an ambitious land settlement scheme for veterans. The detention camp and settlement project were discontinued in 1920. A pulp mill, built from 1920 to 1923 was the forerunner of larger mills producing newsprint, pulp, and cellulose. Their proprietors spearheaded the development of Kapiskasing as one of Northern Ontario’s earliest planned industrial communities.
Kapuskasing Internment Camp (1914- 1920)
When the First Wolrd War began, Canada established internment camps to detain persons viewed as security risks. Prejudice and wartime paranoia led to the needless internment of several thousand recent immigrants. The majority were Ukrainians whose homeland was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. One of the largest camps was built across the river from here at a remote railway siding. Despite harsh conditions, some 1300 internees constructed buildings and cleared hundreds of acres of spruce forest for a government experimental farm. In 1917, most were paroled to help relieve wartime labor shortages. After that, the camp held prisoners of war and political radicals, including leaders of the 1919 Winnipeg General Strike.
Even if today was not an exciting day as we drove much, I enjoyed every time I learned something about history! So when you have to drive, try to make your stop the best of them (and even if it’s only to put your feet in the water!)
