Balaclava in Renfrew County, Ontario is a near ghost town today, a come down from the bustling lumber town of its heyday. It was begun with a sawmill in 1855 and by the 1860 had acquired a blacksmith shop and hotel to go with its permanent residents. In 1903 a sawdust burner was built so that the sawdust wasn't dumped in the local river polluting it. The sawmill continued to operate until 1959 but by that time the depletion of available timber had reduced production to uneconomically small amounts. Renfrew is a county in the Canadian province of Ontario. ... Motto: Ut Incepit Fidelis Sic Permanet (Latin: Loyal she began, loyal she remains) Official languages English (French has some legal status but is not fully co-official) Flower White Trillium Tree Eastern White Pine Bird Common Loon Capital Toronto Largest city Toronto Lieutenant-Governor James K. Bartleman Premier Dalton McGuinty... This article or section should include material from Saw mill A sawmill is a facility where logs are cut into boards. ... A blacksmith A blacksmith at work A blacksmith at work A blacksmiths fire Hot metal work from a blacksmith A blacksmith is a person who creates objects from iron or steel by forging the metal; i. ... Sawdust is composed of fine particles of wood. ...
Balaclava was listed in a popular book on ghost towns by Ron Brown. Although it makes Balaclava sound like a pristine, deserted ghost town, actually it is just off highway 513 and still has a few residents. A street corner in the ghost town of Bodie, California. ...
It was the county town of the county of Renfrewshire until 1975.
Renfrew is known as the "Birthplace of the Royal Stewarts" and has held royal burgh status for over 600 years.
Renfrew was a parliamentary burgh as a component of Glasgow Burghs from 1708 to 1832, and as a component of Kilmarnock Burghs from 1832 to 1918, when it was merged into the East Renfrewshire constituency.
Balaclava fits the Hollywood version of the 'picture perfect' ghost town; a row of ramshackle buildings with sagging roofs, huddled along a narrow road, while doors and windows creak in the wind.
The Richards family operated the mill until 1957, when they sold it to Donald Dick, Although Balaclava had been a busy industrial and farming centre throughout the latter part of the 19th century, for some reason it was bypassed by the railways.
Balaclava has that distinction for it is the site of one of Ontario's last water powered sawmills.
Feeds |
Contact