ODDS’N’SODS — Kirkland Lake, then and now

Fifty-eight years after my first arrival in Kirkland Lake, Ont., I returned this past July to enjoy Blue Diamond Anniversary Week.

In 1936, the first government-owned post office was yet to appear. A half-hour wait for mail was normal in a rickety old building on Duncan Ave. All the mines paid their employees through one bank, where a waiting throng of a thousand miners blocked off Government Road for a few hours on pay night. The then-current story, which may have brought many a hopeful to Kirkland Lake was to the effect that the main street (Government Road) was paved with gold. There was an element of truth to this because low-grade ore from the mines had been used for the roadbed in the swampy places.

Ann Shipley was the reeve, surely one of the first female heads of municipal government in Ontario. An unkempt Sandy McIntyre, who had staked the claims where the McIntyre mine in Timmins was later developed, wandered the streets and frequented the many beer parlors.

Seven gold mines, from Macassa to Toburn, were operating along “the mile of gold.” (Only the Macassa is still producing.)

Three adits had been mined into a rocky hillside where the huge Kerr Addison mine was developed later. Early financing for that mine was obtained by selling 1,250,000 shares at 15 cents each and 990,000 shares at 50 cents each. In the pre-war years, a wonderfully extravagant lifestyle developed in Kirkland Lake. Formal dances were biweekly events with big bands, where “in” ladies wore corsages, glittering jewelry and evening dresses. During the war, Kirkland Lake probably contributed a greater percentage of its inhabitants to the armed forces than any other municipality in Canada. That exodus precipitated a downturn from which the town never recovered. When leaving Kirkland Lake in 1948, my last purchase was a raincoat from Seymour’s Clothing where the slogan was: “If the clothes don’t fit, Seymour’s will not let you wear them.”

This summer I found an active organization determined to make this Blue Diamond Anniversary a memorable event. A booking office arranged accommodation at campsites, private homes, motels and hotels. A daily schedule of events included wine and cheese parties at the high school, lunches at the Legion hall, dances in a number of other halls, picnics at Culver Park and guided tours through the Museum of Northern History (in the former palatial home of Harry and Eunice Oakes) and the large Veterans Affairs building.

The town is cleaner now and more substantial-looking. Northern College of Applied Arts and Technology graces the sight where a rather decrepit Toburn mine stood 50 years ago. The high school is greatly enlarged. There is a new post office on Government Road, though I remember when the former rock-solid structure was built in 1936-37; it now houses the municipal offices. There is a truly magnificent hospital near the shore of Gull Lake and a senior citizens’ residence nearby. All these attest to the permanence of the town and the optimism of the people.

The former Kerr Addison mine in Virginiatown, now operated by Deak Resources, the Holt McDermott mine and the Holloway joint venture all provide substantial employment and markets to benefit Kirkland Lake. In Virginiatown I met Cliff Patterson, a rugged old shaft sinker dating back to the 1930-40s. Shaftmen always were the cream of the mining fraternity. In pre-war years they made $6 per shift plus bonus while the regular miners’ rate was $5.20.

We mentioned names of people we had known in those years and learned that they were dead, all dead but him and me and Dave Attwater, who is in the senior citizens’ residence in Kirkland Lake. There were tears in the eyes of that tough old scout when we parted.

On my return to Kirkland Lake, I went to Seymour’s and asked what they would do about the raincoat I purchased in 1948 which still fits but has darkened somewhat. The new generation seemed a little mystified with my sense of humor. –George Wallace, a regular contributor, is a retired miner living in Cobden, Ont.