| Nakina, Ontario |
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Information AboutNakina, Ontario |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT NAKINA, ONTARIO | |
| communities in thunder bay district, ontario | |
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Nakina was first established in 1913, as a station and passing track, on the National Transcontinental Railway , between the divisional points of Grant and Armstrong. Nakina was at Mile 15.9 of the '''NTR''''s Grant Sub-Division. Following the 1924 completion of Canadian National Railways 's Longlac-Nakina Cut-Off , connecting the rails of the Canadian Northern at Longlac and the NTR, Nakina became the new divisional point, at which time the buildings from the town of Grant (25 kilometers to the east) were moved to the new Nakina town site. As an important railway service stop from the 1920s to the early 1970s , the town had a railway round-house as well as a watering and fueling capability. During World War II, there was also a radar base on the edge of the town intended to watch for a potential attack on the strategically important locks at Sault Ste. Marie at the intersections of Lake Superior and Lake Huron . Research into the Radar site in the National Archives Of Canada indicates that it was largely a United States Army Air Forces operation, that pre-dated the later Pinetree Line radar bases that were erected shortly thereafter focussing on the cold-war threat. The Nakina base was totally removed shortly after the war. In the 1970s pulp and paper operations near the town resulted in growth in the towns population to its peak of approximately 1200. However, at this point cost controls in the railway industry meant that service and maintenance could be consolidated at points much more distant from one another than had been common in the first half of the 20th century. As a result, the value of Nakina as a railway service community was greatly diminished, to the point where it was no longer a substantial employer in the town. As Of 2004 the town remains focussed on Tourism , diminished pulp and paper operations, and support of other more northern communities (food, fuel and transportation). Mining and minerals industries are often seen as a souce of further growth, though the Canadian Shield geology of the area makes extraction of minerals like gold an expensive and uneconomical operation. Access to the remote northern community is by Via Rail , road ( Highway 584 from Highway 11 ) and small aircraft service at the town's small airport. REFERENCES National Archives Of Canada was a source for some facts on this page. The website includes some online content at their Collections Canada address. EXTERNAL LINKS |
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