Media Advisory - Provincial plaque to commemorate founding of Iroquois Falls

    
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    Date:        Thursday, October 1, 2009, at 1 p.m.
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    Location:    Iroquois Falls Curling Club
                 729 Synagogue Street, Iroquois Falls
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    Directions:  Iroquois Falls is located 36 km northwest of Matheson; 78 km
                 northeast of Timmins; and 50 km southeast of Cochrane. From
                 Highway 11, head northeast on Highway 67 (Ambridge Drive).
                 Veer right to continue on Main Street, and then turn left at
                 Synagogue Street. The Curling Club is on the left-hand side.
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    Photo
    opportunity: Unveiling of a provincial plaque
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    Contact:     Catrina Colme
                 Marketing and Communications Coordinator
                 Ontario Heritage Trust
                 Telephone: [phone]
                 E-mail: [email protected]
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IROQUOIS FALLS, ON, Sept. 28 /CNW/ - Join us on Thursday, October 1 , at the Iroquois Falls Curling Club as the Ontario Heritage Trust, the Iroquois Falls Community Development Team and the Town of Iroquois Falls unveil a provincial plaque commemorating the town's founding.

In the early 1900s, when the Ontario government built the Temiskaming and Northern Ontario Railway from North Bay to Cochrane it opened the region to settlement. Frank Harris Anson , a native of Michigan and Montreal businessman, decided to develop a newsprint mill after learning of the impressive forests and potential water power in the area. In 1912, Anson and partner Shirley Ogilvie were granted a pulpwood concession of over one million acres (more than 400,000 hectares) and started the Abitibi Power & Paper Company, Limited.

Committed to building a pleasant company town for his employees, Anson applied ideas from the British and American Garden City movement combining esthetics with utility. The community and Anson's mill flourished, signifying the arrival of the newsprint industry as one of northern Ontario's social and economic pillars.

Iroquois Falls was incorporated in 1915. The following year, a large part of the town was destroyed by fire, but the community rebuilt and Anson continued his beautification program during the 1920s. Today, Iroquois Falls is a small but vibrant community that is home to the top-producing mill of AbitibiBowater, and paper manufacturing remains the town's primary industry.

The Ontario Heritage Trust's Provincial Plaque Program commemorates significant people, places and events in Ontario's history. Since 1953, over 1,200 provincial plaques have been unveiled.

Aussi disponible en français

For further information: Catrina Colme, Marketing and Communications Coordinator, Ontario Heritage Trust, Telephone: [phone], E-mail: [email protected]