The sawmill was water-powered and was the last to operate in Ontario. It is a 10 km drive just outside Perth, Ontario, and is completely worth the brief detour for those photographically inclined. Thanks to the efforts of the Niagara Region Conservation … Due to its location, Falkenburg appeared unstoppable. The population increased fast with the construction of a schoolhouse, a church, two general stores, a post office, and later on, a shingle mill. A fire plagued the town in 1939 and the production of … Some exist in name only whereas others,although mere shadows of their former selves, continue to support small populations. Craigmontis a dispersed rural community, unincorporated place, and ghost town in Carlow/Mayo, Hastings County in Central Ontario, Canada. BALACLAVA, ONTARIO. Factors leading to the abandonment of towns include depleted natural resources, economic activity shifting elsewhere, railroads and roads bypassing or no longer accessing the town, human intervention, disasters, massacres, wars, and the shifting of politics or fall of empires. At its height it contained mills, a distillery, a pail factory, two inns, and a Catholic church, which allowed the town to flourish to over 300 residents by 1870. You don’t have to venture far off of Highway 132 in the Ottawa Valley to find Balaclava, a … These people were often literally dumped on the shores of Grosse Île and the local hospital was ill equipped to manage the numbers or the illnesses. Frontier Ghost Town 503186 County Road 12 Durham ON N0G 1R0. Known For: Lumber mill, close to Maple Train Station. This tiny ghost town was established in 1840 and originally went by the name Thorpville. Feb 13, 2020 - Explore Val Sheppard Sheedy's board "ontario ghost towns" on Pinterest. This location is easily accessible, with a number of cottages surrounding it. Renfrew County. Your Ghost Town Ontario stock images are ready. The ghost town of Balaclava is located in Renfrew County about 4 hours east of Toronto. This is one for the casual ghost hunters of Ontario, or anyone looking to explore a bit of spooky history. Menu & Reservations Make Reservations . Located in Renfrew County, which is in Eastern Ontario, this town has been long since abandoned after its dissolution nearly 100 years later in the 1960s. Travel to South Mackenzie Lake Road, and continue on 127 for another 7.3 km. Get there: Turn North from Dacre (highway 132) onto highway 513. But the arrival of railways and a new station a short distance away from the town eventually removed the area’s importance, forcing residents to depart and its popularity to vanish. 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Swords. Phantasmagorical particulars: You might need oxygen to bring this ghost town back to life. The son of Dutch immigrants, he was born in 1794 and fought in the War of 1812. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ghost_towns_in_Ontario This little town only existed for a mere decade, but still has multiple houses standing for those urban explorers near the Thunder Bay area. And like many of the areas on our list, it thrived during the lumber boom in the late 1800s. Not worth going to at all. This settlement is located on the Opeongo Road in Renfrew County and was never actually established as a village or town. It is mainly referred to as a hamlet, rather than a town, due to its small size. It was once a thriving mining and mill town, named after William Allan, who was responsible for building the original saw and grist mills. See more ideas about Ontario, Ghost towns, Abandoned places. Ghost towns are listed by provence & include biographies, pictures, and other detailed ghost town info. This town was founded by multiple early settlers, many of whom originated from Germany, hence the name. Visiting ghost towns, too, is a thrilling, adrenaline-pumping experience (and it makes for great photos). Germania is located in the Muskoka region, which has a short growing season and did not do well for the farming residents of the town. This lumber town was once bustling during the height of the production in the late 1800s. There are abandoned ghost towns all over the country. This town is one of the most well-preserved ghost towns that you are going to find in Ontario. Top Ontario Ghost Towns: See reviews and photos of ghost towns in Ontario, Canada on Tripadvisor. It eventually added a small school, a general store, and a post office. 1 building which is fenced off. The schoolhouse has since been restored as a beautiful community centre, and the general store sits weathered but still standing. They built their own and eventually aided in the construction of a general store, churches, a cheese factory, a blacksmith shop, and a lumber mill. Top Ontario Ghost Towns: See reviews and photos of ghost towns in Ontario, Canada on Tripadvisor. Try visiting the places first before you mark them as ghost towns or abandoned towns. After the railway arrived in 1854, canal shipping took a steep drop. The schoolhouse dragged on until the late 1950s, as the did the post office, finally closing its doors in 1966. These are most numerous in the Central Ontario and Northern Ontario regions, although a smaller number of ghost towns can be found throughout the province. The farming town was founded by Colonel James Vrooman in the early to mid 1800's. New industries located by the railway, and Glen Elgin gradually became a ghost town. Established: 1894. Welcome to Ontario Ghost Towns. The families were able to tough it out until the 1940s when farming simply would not suffice. Stunning imagery can be found of an original baseball cage outside the recreation hall, surrounding street lamps and an original fire hydrant. After establishing a grist mill, the Vrooman’s were able to install a sawmill, a schoolhouse, and eventually thrived as a large farming village. Don’t waste your time and visiting these two. The region is dotted with ghost towns and this blog (written some 20 years ago by Jody Didier was published on the now defunct GetRealinOntario blog) will highlight a few. Ghost towns in Ontario that we have visited if accessible. Although it is technically classified as a ghost town, there has been some new construction in the surrounding area. Because of this, the town is often explored for paranormal activity. Learn more about, We may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site which supports, 8 Abandoned Ghost Towns You Can Visit in Ontario. Ghosttowns.com-the best source of information on ghost towns in the U.S. and Canada. These are not ghost towns at all. ONTARIO ABANDONED PLACES OAP Documenting Canada's Abandoned Structures. Learn how to create your own. Database of Canada abandoned building, ghost towns, industrial, farm houses, mansions, creepy places, and more. There were supposedly a number of unnatural deaths that occurred in Germania during its height of success. The bedrooms of the mansion itself have had multiple reports of a young girl wandering the halls, as well as shadowy figures moving about the multiple graveyards. In the later 1900s, the town began to rely on their lumber production, which eventually lost its grip in popularity in the early 20th century. Ghost Towns of Ontario Volume 1 book. Ontario’s countless mining towns are good examples of this fact. Hundreds of ghost towns from the people who have actually visted them Due to the immense popularity of the lumber industry, Falkenburg thrived for many years, taking advantage of the wider roads used for stagecoaches. Several of the buildings still stand, and although they are dilapidated and the town is generally considered abandoned, around 14 residents still live just off the main roadway. This includes a dozen houses, a gas station, a school, and a recreational school that is collapsed. The Thompson residence Ruthven Mansion (pictured above) still stands today and is open for tours during scheduled hours and for special events. Top Ontario Ghost Towns: See reviews and photos of ghost towns in Ontario, Canada on Tripadvisor. Driving Directions: From Maynooth, travel north on hwy 127. These types of … People often ask how many ghost towns are there in Ontario? The first settlers managed to open a post office in 1872, later came two hotels, a general store, an Anglican Church, and even a schoolhouse. Residents began to move away and follow where they could be employed. Many were suffering from typhus as a result of conditions in Ireland followed by weeks at sea on crowded ships with unsanitary conditions. We don't know for certain if ghosts roam the town but the creepy feel from this place definitely suggests that they do. 13 families resided along the rocky hills and chose to farm along with the land for proper sustenance. The Canadian province of Ontario has a significant number of ghost towns. - Community Voices Ontario's Ghost Town Heritage features the most interesting or "ghostly" destinations from Ron Brown's earlier volumes, all with updated information and images, along "Ron Brown... must know more about Ontario's towns, past and present, than anyone else." My assumptions were correct- it is a ghost town very similar to that of Fleetwood, Ontario. What remains for urban explorers are a few buildings, a dam, silo and intact sawmill that will transport you back into the 19th Century. This town once thrived as one of the first locations on the Muskoka Road which was a branch of the Ontario Road Colonization Program which began in 1854 in an attempt to encourage settlement in underdeveloped areas in Ontario and to connect roads to supply centres within the lumber industry. He is buried along with his 2 wives at the United Church cemetery at Conc. Turn right and travel 1.3km when you … About the many ghost towns of Ontario, Canada by Ron Brown. Jerusalem (ghost town) Muskoka, Ontario 5 years ago. This small town was once home to a sawmill, a blacksmith shop, general store and a hotel. There are new homes built there and what is left of the old towns is not worth it. 7 and Sideroad 17A. This is yet another ghost town located in the district of Muskoka. Chesterfield (Ghost town) Oxford County, Ontario Recently Uploaded Ghost Town "McCormick House" ZTM 1 month ago. GETTY IMAGES Not all ghost towns are dead zones. The area is still used today for farming and cattle grazing, while the remains of a handful of log cabins sit like skeletons along the road. Read reviews from world’s largest community for readers. WEB SERIES - SEWER GATORS (Cooper Falls, Ontario)In this episode the gang set out to explore an old Historic ghost town . When the timber supply decreased, the people left, leaving Wallace to become another ghost town. In all, it includes 80 accessible locations throughout Ontario. Ontario is sprinkled with ghost towns, places that started with big dreams that were ultimately dashed for one reason or another. Abandoned Ghost Towns No One Wants To Buy For Any Price. Nov 2007 Balaclava Ontario A so-called ghost town, Balaclava is a village of only a few buildings. So Balaclava’s hey-day was way back in the 1800s. You can pick your favourites and tour them this summer during one epic roadtrip. The closest schools, churches and post office were located along Opeongo Road. Balaclava. Dissolved: 1966. This map was created by a user. Reviews. One Google Maps user created a map with popular ghost town locations across Canada. You can find the ghost town of Balaclava in Renfrew County which is a four-hour drive from Toronto and just 1.5 hours from Ottawa. Commentdocument.getElementById("comment").setAttribute( "id", "ad016fd9c0367de4a532010cdcaeec04" );document.getElementById("a74369a22f").setAttribute( "id", "comment" ); 100% Canadian-owned and operated, we are an independent, unbiased list of the best companies and gear available to Canadians who want to save the time and stress of figuring out what to buy and where to buy it. Most of the town's buildings are run-down and abandoned like the infamous sawmill on the river. Login; ... Halton Hills, Ontario 10 years ago. The Sword family operated the general store and provided for locals getting off at the train station, which was closeby and aided in the towns briefly flourishing times. Article content continued Star trails illuminate a ghost town in Galilee, Sask. Ontario's Ghost Town Heritage. The mine was mainly known for mining copper, but when the value of copper fell by 1967, the site had to shut down. Swords is a waste of time. A town does not need to be completely abandoned to become a ghost town. Brown, Ron (2007). Balaclava. This former community is noted for its abandoned church (built 1860), its cemetery, its abandoned school house (built 1899). This abandoned town is only a few minutes north of the community of Cayuga of Haldimand County, located by the Grand River, and was founded by David I. Thompson who was elected to parliament in 1841. The town grew rather rapidly and established amenities like a dam, sawmill, blacksmith shop and hotel soon after its founding. It had almost 400 residents at its peak. It is located in the Town of Port Hope, Ontario near Lake Ontario. A saw mill, blacksmith shop and a few houses all sit vacant, empty. The area was once thriving with a hotel, a general store, a blacksmith, a wagon shop, and a post office. Wesleyville is a ghost hamlet snuggled between the old port hamlets of Port Britain and Port Granby. Due to the constant flow of people, the Swords were able to build a post office and a schoolhouse before lumbering started declining in the 1930s. Get directions, reviews and information for Frontier Ghost Town in Durham, ON. The town also served as a standby base for the Canadian Military during the war years. Without railway access, Indiana’s industries gradually fell silent. Of course, once the lumber mill closed down, the town began to deteriorate. Boston Mills Press. Probably hundreds! But widening roads eventually caused the demise of the town. A cemetery with a few gravestones remains, and the church has been replaced from a Methodist Church to a United Church. This town was founded by Colonel James Vrooman, who was awarded the land after he served in the War of 1812. Many Irish se… The original name was Maple Lake Station but was changed in 1925 to avoid confusion with another Maple Station. When the original buildings, industry and population fade, sometimes the only recognizable feature left is the town’s name. "Ontario's Ghost Town Heritage features the most interesting or "ghostly" destinations from Ron Brown's earlier volumes, all with updated information and images, along with newly "discovered" ghost towns. But once the railway industry started flourishing, stations were built in nearby towns such as Sunderland, which began to thrive. At the height of its population, Vroomanton had about 200 residents. Balaclava is a ghost town in Renfrew County that was once a thriving lumber town. The Cooper’s were from England, arriving on a steamship with three young children. Although first started in the 1850's, about 100 years later the mill was all but finished. Website. And before we go any further, we should let you know that a lot of the town is now privately owned, so we’d recommend not trespassing or exploring this yourself. It served as a quarantine station for over 90,000 Irish immigrants escaping the potato famine. McCormick's Biscuit Factory London, Ontario 11 years ago. He researched the towns from the Ontario Archives, compiling a comprehensive historical profiles for each. My son and i checked out Germania and Coopers falls and boy what a disappointment. It lost residents once the mill was rendered unusable from fire damage. Road trips to the old ports and millstreams, remote byways and isolated islands to record remnants and talk to … A town can also be abandoned when it is part of an exclusion zone due to natural or man-made causes. A good thing to do, is google maps the location, throw it on satellite view and that’ll show you if its abandonded and/or lived in, and you’ll see newer houses, cars, stores etc built if that’s the case. And nearby Armstrong Mills, you’ll find Ponsonby, Ontario. SUBSCRIBE - https://goo.gl/vQRXAn . Download all free or royalty-free photos and vectors. Grosse Île Grosse Île is a ghost town that likely has a bustling population of ghosts, if you believe in that kind of thing. … This town was initially settled by Thomas and Emma Cooper, who acted as some of the main suppliers of wood in the region for lumber trade. Presently, an old wooden barn still stands, despite standing slightly rickety. Two are inhabited, but the rest have been abandoned. 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