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Lake of Gulls is a work of fiction and none of the characters are meant to
resemble anyone living or dead, but the setting is the real town of Kiosk,
Ontario. Many readers have requested some history and background of the
town as it does represent an interesting story in itself.
All that is left of the town of Kiosk are sidewalks that lead to nowhere and
a couple of buried concrete foundations.
This is the car bridge that crosses the Amable du Fond river. The drop
weirs are damaged and the entire lake is lower.
If you were to visit Kiosk today, you would find only ghosts of what had once
been.
On these pages you will find pictures and maps that show how this present day
ghost town looked in the 1950's, 60's and 70's.
The town, located within the northern boundary of Algonquin Park, sprang to
life in 1936 when H. Staniforth, a manager from a lumber mill to west, procured
the logging limits at the north end of Kioshkokwi Lake from J. R. Booth.
At that time there were two two-story buildings and a
small depot.
Staniforth had come from Fossmill, 12 miles to the west, and since the mill
there had burned, there were many available workers. Staniforth set up
operations on the north shore of Kioshkokwi Lake and many of the original
Fossmill residents walked the 12 miles along the railway line to work. In
the following years most built homes in the area and the town of Kiosk had its
birth.
By the 1960's, the Staniforth operation had
a saw mill, a semi-dimension mill, a large kiln, and a veneer plant. The
operation covered ten acres of ground. The town had 600 residents and it now had
a school, church, post office, recreation centre, train station, and general
store. Summer residences, bush camps, and logging camps, and even a Junior
Ranger camp, further added to the population.
Electricity was originally generated by the mill, but in the 1950's it was
brought in along Highway 630. Amazingly the town even had a town water
supply with fire hydrants on the streets.
Residents still talk about the open community that existed. If a child
were hurt playing, that child could go into any house and receive aide.
Everyone knew everyone and everyone helped.
There was only a small store in town, the Lucky Dollar,
so many residents took the train into North Bay to go shopping. The
children choose to remain at home however because it was more fun to swim, fish,
boat and play than to be stuck in the Bay.
In 1968, the provincial government announced its
intent to limit logging in the park and this foreshadowed difficulties for
the town. People in Southern Ontario (called "birdwatchers" by the residents)
wanted to protect wilderness areas for their use and felt that this was best
done by keeping Algonquin primitive. This would put an end to any permanent
residences and commercial operations. The townspeople protested (they had lived
there for 25 years and many were now second generation residents) but their
position was weak. All of the land was leased from the government and these
leases terminated in 1996 - 97.
Town committee was formed and members lobbied for support, saying it was unfair
that their lives, their homes, should be sacrificed for the benefit of other
people many miles away. Ironically, in a 1968 letter to the Minister of Natural
Resources, the committee recommended a multi-use policy that sounded similar to
the now popular eco-tourism -- a policy that was the foundation of the recently
completed, multimillion-dollar Eco Centre.
The mill at Kiosk was sold in 1971to UOP, an American company, and continued
operation as the townspeople continued to fight. By 1972, the town was gaining
support, and the provincial government sent a surveyor into the area. It
appeared that residents would soon be able to purchase the land on which their
homes stood, gaining them a firm foothold in the park. The right of the
residents to keep their homes was being acknowledged.
Then, in July of 1973, on Friday the 13th,
everything changed. A group of (some say suspicious) events culminated in
a fire which consumed the 10 acres of mill
property in less than two hours. The water tower
had been emptied, the evening shift had been sent home an hour early, and the
electricity was turned off. Without water, and without electricity to power the
pumps, the mill, the semi-dimension mill, the kilns, the veneer plant, and the
offices all burned to the ground. The following year, the provincial government
served notice that the residents would have to leave.
The residents hired a lawyer to mediate in 1975,
but with the mill gone and relocated outside the park, the outcome seemed
inevitable. Over the next years, the entire community fell apart and most of the
residents were tossed to the four winds.
By 1982 there were just a few homes left and although residents still fought, it
was clear that the government had won. Old Kiosk citizens still meet annually
and many believe that the government was partially to blame for the fire that
destroyed their town.
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