Opeongo Line
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The Opeongo Line or Road (Ope au wingauk in Algonquian means “sandy at the narrows”) was one of a series of settlement roads planned by the Canadian government in the 1850s to encourage development of northeastern Ontario. The men who worked on the road were granted 100 acres (0.4 km²) of land in the region. However, this area had a thin layer of soil over the hard rocks of the Canadian Shield and a short growing season, so it was not very suitable for farming.
Running mostly through Renfrew County, Ontario, the Opeongo Line started at the Ottawa River near Castleford, Ontario and continued west along the Bonnechere and Madawaska Rivers to Whitney, Ontario, a bit short of Opeongo Lake, the planned end-point of the route. While partially realigned and straightened, the following routes make up the Opeongo Line today (from east to west):
- County Road 20
- Highway 132
- County Road 64
- County Road 512
- County Road 66
- Highway 60
Construction on the road began in 1854, luring settlers to the area. Large stands of white pine also drew workers to the area. However, near the end of the 19th century, the Ottawa, Arnprior & Parry Sound Railway became the most important transportation route through this region. Sections of the old winding road remain in use today. Some of the communities which sprang up during the construction of the road (primarily those along Highway 60), such as Barry's Bay and Wilno, remain today. Others, such as Balaclava and Esmonde, have become ghost towns.
The Opeongo Line was one of "Three Great Lines," or colonization roads, that cut into the Canadian Shield. The other two were:
- the Addington Road
- the Hastings Road
[edit] Additional reading
- Standing legacy: Ghost towns preserve the Ottawa Valley’s rich history. - photography by Paul Politis and text by Tobi McIntyre. Canadian Geographic Online.
