Spectacular fall leaves
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NORTH BAY, Ont. – So celebrated are the spectacular colours of Canada’s fall leaves that in Ontario, at least, the Ministry of Tourism issues weekly reports on where to find the most splendid views.
History
Apart from First Nations tribes, voyageurs and surveyors, there was little activity in the Lake Nipissing area until the arrival of the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1882. The CPR started its westward expansion from Bonfield, Ontario (previously called Callander Station) where the first spike was driven into a sunken railway tie. Bonfield, Ontario was inducted into Canadian Railway Hall of Fame in 2002 as the CPR First Spike location.
That was the point where the Canada Central Railway extension ended. The CCR was owned by Duncan McIntyre who amalgamated it with the CPR and became one of the handful of officers of the newly formed CPR. The CCR started in Brockville and extended to Pembroke. It then followed a westward route along the Ottawa River passing through places like Cobden, Deux-Rivières, and eventually to Mattawa at the confluence of the Mattawa and Ottawa Rivers. It then proceeded cross-country towards its final destination Bonfield (previously called Callander Station). Duncan McIntyre and his contractor James Worthington piloted the CCR expansion. Worthington continued on as the construction superintendent for the CPR past Bonfield. He remained with the CPR for about a year until he left the company. McIntyre was uncle to John Ferguson who staked out future North Bay after getting assurance from his uncle and Worthington that it would be the divisional and a location of some importance.
In 1882, John Ferguson decided that the north bay of Lake Nipissing was a promising spot for settlement. North Bay was incorporated as a town in 1891. The first mayor was John Bourke. More importantly, Bourke developed the western portion of North Bay after purchasing the interest of the Murray Brothers from Pembroke who were large landholders in the new community. The land west of Klock Avenue (Algonquin Avenue) was known as the Murray block. Bourke Street is named after John Bourke. Murray Street is named after the Murrays.
Cementing North Bay’s status as a railway town, it was selected as the southern terminus of the Temiskaming and Northern Ontario Railway (T&NO) in 1902 when the Ross government took the bold move to establish a development road to serve the Haileybury settlement. During construction of the T&NO, silver was discovered at Cobalt and started a mining frenzy in the northern part of the province that continued for many years. The Canadian Northern Railway was subsequently built to the town in 1913.
The Georgian Bay Canal was a mammoth transportation system that proposed to connect the Great Lakes with the Atlantic Ocean. The entire passageway from the Ottawa River to Lake Nipissing and down the French River to Georgian Bay was surveyed, mapped and ready to go in the first decade of the 20th century. Financing became the giant hurdle and as time passed, transportation patterns changed and interfered with the earlier practicality of the giant venture. Despite this, there were groups who still hoped it would happen as late as 1930.
North Bay grew through a strong lumbering sector, mining and the three railways in the early days. The town benefited from strong community leadership and people like Richardson, Milne, McNamara, Englands, Browning, McDougal, Carruthers, McGaughey, George W. Lee, Senator Gordon, T J Patton, Charlie Harrison, and many others are responsible for its development. In 1919, John Ferguson was elected mayor of North Bay and continued to serve as mayor until 1922. North Bay was incorporated as a city in August 1925.
The Dionne Quintuplets were born in Corbeil, Ontario, on the southern outskirts of North Bay in 1934. This miraculous birth had a tremendous impact on tourism in the area. In fact, the Dionnes may have saved the economy in the district during the Depression and beyond. North Bay and area lived off this legacy well into the 1960s. Many visitors to the area discovered lakes and summer retreats that were easily accessible and the businesses thrived on the tourist dollars.
In January 1968, the City of North Bay amalgamated with West Ferris and Widdifield townships.
For a time, during most of the Cold War, North Bay became host to NORAD as the most northern military base, with a nuclear shelter bunker. There were both Canadian and American military housed in the city. As a consequence, one of the longest North American landing strips was constructed. As technology grew and eventually the threat of the Cold War lessened, the American miltary withdrew and the base became more automated. Canadian military still resides on base, but is a mere skeleton of its former glory.
The longest airstrip in North Bay has been maintained to be an alternate landing strip for Toronto-Pearson and was used during the 2001-9-11 crisis for a landing strip for a few international airplanes. It was also looked at by NASA as a possible alternate landing strip for the Space Shuttle.
The current engines driving North Bay’s economy are the university and college population, the hospitals (awaiting the completion of a modern new district hospital, which has experienced delays, but is still due to open in 2011), tourism, and a stable provincial government service centre.
On March 17, 2007, North Bay was announced as the winner of 2007 Kraft Hockeyville contest. North Bay received $50,000 to upgrade their local arena, Memorial Gardens, and also hosted an NHL pre-season game between the New York Islanders and the Atlanta Thrashers.
In 2009, multiple film productions came to the city, most notably The Kids in the Hall ‘s 8-part TV miniseries for CBC Television, Death Comes to Town. North Bay’s downtown, Memorial Gardens, and Trinity United Church were among the filming locations, as well as the neighbouring communities of Mattawa and Sturgeon Falls.[3]
North Bay’s population is currently shrinking, with many local youth going to bigger cities for work. However, not enough older people are coming to the city as a place to retire from the bigger cities of Southern Ontario. There is also a growing trend in post secondary students who decide to come to Canadore College and Nipissing University who wish for a quieter atmosphere than larger universities tend to have.
Transportation
North Bay is located at the easternmost junction of Highway 11 and Highway 17, which are both segments of the Trans-Canada Highway. The two highways share a single route through the city core, between Algonquin Avenue and an interchange at Twin Lakes, along an urban expressway route with reduced but not fully controlled access. Major arterial streets intersect directly with the expressway, while minor streets end at a network of service roads connecting them to the arterials. At Algonquin Avenue, Highway 17 continues westward to Sturgeon Falls and Sudbury, while Highway 11 heads north toward Temiskaming Shores. At the eastern interchange, Highway 17 heads eastward toward Mattawa, Pembroke and Ottawa, while Highway 11 widens into a freeway and heads southerly toward Barrie.
Highway 11 and Highway 17 both formerly had business spur routes through downtown North Bay, Highway 11B and Highway 17B, although both have been decommissioned by the province and are now designated only as city streets. North Bay is also served by Highway 63, a route which extends northeasterly from the city toward Thorne, where it crosses the Ottawa River and becomes Quebec Route 101.
North Bay is served by the North Bay/Jack Garland Airport, which serves both as the city’s main commercial airport and as a military airstrip for the adjacent CFB North Bay.
Train and intercity bus service in the city operates from the North Bay railway station, a joint terminal on Station Road.
The city operates a public transit system, North Bay Transit.
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