Capreol, Ontario
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Capreol is a community in the Ontario city of Greater Sudbury.
From 1918 to 2000, Capreol existed as an independent town, situated on the Vermillion River. It was a major railway depot on the Canadian National Railway line, and was named for Frederick Chase Capreol, the original promoter of the Northern Railway of Canada. The first family to move into Capreol was Adolph and Margaret Sawyer, both of whom pioneered in farming.
Although the town was originally an independent community with its own thriving economy, it gradually became a satellite community to the more rapidly growing city of Sudbury, approximately 40 kilometres to the south.
In 1916, there were thirty families in town, and by 1919, sixty houses had been built. It was then decided that Capreol would build its own YMCA. In 1920, the construction of the Y was in progress, but was damaged by fire, to the extent of $40,000.00. The Y was rebuilt at double the cost and finally opened in 1921.
In 1973, the boundaries of the town of Capreol were expanded to include the nearby villages of Sellwood and Milnet, and the town was incorporated into the Regional Municipality of Sudbury. However, despite its status as part of the Regional Municipality, Statistics Canada did not include the town in Sudbury's Census Metropolitan Area for census purposes.
In 1996, the last Canadian census before the municipal amalgamation, Capreol had a population of 3,817.
On January 1, 2001, the towns and cities of the Regional Municipality were amalgamated into the single-tier city of Greater Sudbury. The town is part of Ward 7 on Greater Sudbury City Council, and is represented by councillor Russ Thompson. In recent years, Capreol citizens have voiced their concerns that the city government does not adequately serve the community's needs. For example, they cite lack of a police presence and increasing vandalism as areas that Sudbury needs to improve on.
Capreol is the location of the Northern Ontario Railway Museum.
[edit] Ghost towns
The former villages of Milnet and Sellwood, located within the area annexed by Capreol in 1973, are both now ghost towns.
Milnet (originally named Sellwood Junction up to 1916) began as a stop along the Canadian Northern Railway. In 1917, after the railway was laid down, the Marshay Lumber Company built a mill and began a 22-year process of cutting trees from the area. Men from logging camps upstream would let the Vermillion River carry the logs to the mill in Milnet. From there the men at the mill would cut the wood on the blade and then move it along to the planar mill.
An open pit mine now stands where the Sellwood townsite once was.
[edit] Former Mayors
incomplete list
- James E. Coyne
- Harold Prescott
- Norman Fawcett
- Frank Mazzuca
- Dave Kilgour
[edit] External links
- Capreol Online
- Ontario Abandoned Places: Milnet
- History of Capreol at Greater Sudbury Heritage Museums
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