Saturday, 25 July 2020

BEARDMORE-LAKE NIPIGON EXTRACTS 7


July Daily Times in Beardmore - based on reports in the Fort William Daily Times-Journal in 1938
Tue 5 Jul HIGHWAY TO GERALDTON – “The Dominion and Ontario governments jointly . . . appropriated one million dollars for the construction of a highway from Hydro [Cameron Falls] to Geraldton . . . Beardmore is approximately half way from Hydro to Geraldton, or, roughly, fifty miles from Geraldton. The Beardmore-Geraldton section is frequently spoken of as ‘fifty miles of gold’. Eight producing gold mires which this year will have an output of $8,000,000 will be serviced . . . There are scores of other properties in various stages of development . . . Beardmore is a thriving town of about 1,000 population, the business center of a group of mines including the Northern Empire, built on the Empire townsite, three-quarters of a mile east of Beardmore. Seven miles northwest are Leitch and Sand River Gold Mines, into which a road has been constructed from Beardmore . . . Six miles east of Beardmore the highway will pass through Jackpine, a thriving hamlet from which mining and timber operations radiate to the north and south . . . Nezah is another busy hamlet, lying between Jackpine and Jellicoe . . . Eight miles of highway have been constructed west of Geraldton terminating in the Jellicoe Consolidated Gold mines property . . . This road would be part of the new highway.”
Wed 6 Jul PROGRESS OF THE ROAD – Raynor Construction was awarded a contract last year for $150,000 to construct the highway west of Bankfield mine [towards Jellicoe]. Tomlinson Construction has a contract for $70,000 to complete the construction of 16 miles between Beardmore and Nezah.  When these projects are finished, that will leave 11 miles to construct from west of Jellicoe to east of Jellicoe.
Fri 8 Jul BARBER SHOP OWNERS – Mr. and Mrs. N. Ruttan of Geraldton purchased the equipment from M. Powers’ barber shop and is now open for business.
Thu 14 Jul FIRST WEDDING – Beardmore’s first wedding was solemnized on June 27th. Miss Sally Esther Sanelma, eldest daughter of Mr. and Mrs. F. Leppanen of Empire, married Mr. Robert Ernest Smallwood of Winnipeg. Officiating was Rev. E.G.D. Freeman.
Thu 14 Jul DOH BUILDINGS – “J. Baby has been busy the past week erecting department of highway buildings.” The Roxy Café, managed by E. Prete, is now open for business.
Tue 19 Jul BRIDGE ROUTE – The bridge at Cameron Falls cannot carry highway traffic, which suggests that the bridge at Nipigon may be used.
Tue 19 Jul SUNDAY SCHOOL PICNIC – The annual picnic was hosted on someone’s lawn, and 40 children and adults sat down at tables. The program included awards, a piano solo, a guitar-vocal solo, a duet, a recitation, a step dance, a highland fling, and a speech.
Tue 26 July WAFFLE SHOP – A new shop managed by Miss Wiebe opened for business.
Sat 30 Jul SEVEN CONTRACTS – Seven contracts have been let for the highway between Nipigon and Beardmore.
Photo 1 - 1937 Sep 7th View looking south at newly completed TransCanada Hwy. bridge over the Nipigon River. Motorists could now drive to Schreiber. The road to the Soo would not be completed till 1962. E.C. Everett photo.
Photo 2 - 1938 Grading on the new Nipigon-Beardmore highway, location not specified. Ministry of Transport photo.
Photo 3 Not dated – Leitch Gold Mines. Robb Swanson collection.









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