Killaloe, Ontario

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Killaloe is a town located in Renfrew County, Ontario, Canada in the township of Killaloe, Hagarty and Richards. Geographically it is located in Eastern Ontario. The shores of Golden Lake are located 3km (2 miles) to the east, which is well known for quality angling and year round recreation. The present day town is located about 4km (2.5 miles) north of the former townsite of "Old Killaloe", located on a settlement road known as the Opeongo Line.

[edit] History

Originally called Fort McDonnell, Killaloe Station (pronounced "KILL-a-LOO") flourished when lumber baron J.R. Booth built the Ottawa, Arnprior & Parry Sound Railway in 1897. In 1854 the construction of the Opeongo Line brought settlers and the logging industry to this area which originally had been occupied by the Algonquins. The Algonquin in the area still continue an ongoing land claim which covers the entire region. A majority of the settlers were French Canadians and Irish Catholic immigrants but among them were Poles and Germans as well.

The logging industry and construction on the Opeongo Line provided plenty of jobs. Logs were boomed down rivers destined for the mills in Ottawa. Workers brought their families to set up homesteads. With the railroad construction essentially finished, and the forestry industry declining many of the people took to farming. Unfortunately the soil was poor. Rocky land and short growing seasons meant that many farms failed. The population went into a steady decline which has only levelled off in the past few decades.

For years, Killaloe was known across Canada for its weather and radio station, which operated here from, 1938 to 1972, as part of a country-wide chain of sites designed for aircraft communication. A small airstrip operated at the weather station until 1953 before services were moved to neighbouring Bonnechere.

[edit] Economy

Today, tourism and recreation, power generation, arts and crafts are the regions main sources of employment and revenue. The summer population here is boosted by plenty of freshwater and excellent fishing, most seasonal properties with cottages belong to residents of the Ottawa area. Snowmobiling, snowshoeing, ice fishing and skiing (both crosscountry and downhill) are the prime winter activities. Logging and sawmill operations still exists here, but not to the extent they once did as much of the areas old growth forests have been felled.

It was here that the tasty Beaver Tail - a Canadian classic - was created.