BUILDING BRIDGES

BRIDGING THE NIPIGON FOR RAIL

Rev. Robert Renison, born 1854 in Tipperary Ireland, had a Mission on Lake Nipigon. Every summer he left the Mission for a few months and he and his family came to the village of Nepigon.

"One reason for this was the tremendous construction work being done by the Canadian Pacific Railroad."
writes his daughter Julia Charlotte Renison in 1928-29... after his death in California.

" A bridge which comprised a feat of engineering almost as wonderful as that of the Brooklyn Bridge, was being constructed there." JCR

"Thousands of men were employed every summer. The work on that bridge, which crossed the Nepigon River, the whirlpool and rapids hundreds of feet below, had to be suspended during the winter months, because outdoor work was impossible in that tremendously cold climate." JCR

"At night my father went out into the camps and held services. There were as yet no churches in the small village. I can remember the big bon fires and the hearty singing. Father played the hymns on his violin and led the great throngs in singing." JCR