Kirkland Lake, Ontario
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kirkland Lake is a town located in Timiskaming District in northeastern Ontario, Canada. The 2006 population, according to Statistics Canada, was 8,248.
The lake nearby was named after Winnifred Kirkland, a secretary of the Ontario Department of Mines in Toronto. The lake was named by surveyor Louis Rorke in 1907. Miss Kirkland never visited the town and the lake that bore her name no longer exists because of mine tailings.
Kirkland Lake is served by radio station CJKL-FM (101.5)and the Northern News.
The community of Swastika lies within the municipal boundaries of Kirkland Lake.
Legendary hockey broadcaster Foster Hewitt called Kirkland Lake "the town that made the NHL famous", likely because in the early days of the NHL, it was not uncommon to find an NHLer from the town. The town is now home to the Hockey Heritage North museum.
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[edit] Geography
Kirkland Lake is located at at an altitude of 243 metres above sea level and has an area of 262.24 square kilometres. The total private dwellings number 4,672. There are 32.9 people per square kilometre.
[edit] Economy
Known as a gold mining town, the area is home to Kirkland Lake Gold Inc., which owns and operates five major gold mines. These properties include the Macassa, Kirkland Minerals, Teck-Hughes, Lake Shore and Wright Hargreaves mines, which have produced 22 million troy ounces (684,000 kg) of gold. However, the mines have reduced production substantially in recent years, and the population has declined rapidly as a result, from as high as 17,000 in the 1970s to less than half that now. The decline is expected to continue.
The proposed use of Adams Mine, an abandoned open pit mine close to Kirkland Lake, as a massive dump for waste brought by rail from Toronto, was a defining issue in Kirkland Lake politics – and indeed in Toronto politics and Ontario politics – from the late 1990s to the early 2000s.
[edit] Famous Kirkland Lakers
- Ralph Backstrom - hockey player
- Smiley Bates (1937-1997) - Country Music Virtuoso. Played Any Instrument With Strings, and Sang.
- Mario Bernardi - conductor, pianist
- Denis Chouinard - Filmmaker
- Joey Clement - musician
- Toller Cranston - figure skater, painter
- Dick Duff - hockey player
- Bill Durnan - goalie
- Ted Lindsay - hockey player
- Michael Mahonen - actor
- Diane Marleau - politician
- Bob Murdoch - hockey player, coach
- Claude Noel - hockey player
- Michael O'Brien
- Sir Harry Oakes - mining millionaire
- Barclay Plager - hockey player, coach
- Bob Plager - hockey player
- Daren Puppa - hockey player
- Mickey Redmond - hockey player, sports broadcaster
- Alan Thicke - actor
- Mary Bailey - former country singer, music manager
- Michael Hogan, actor
Michael Barnes was formerly Principal of Queen Elizabeth and Central Schools. Some of his 50+ books which refer to the community are: Looking Back Kirkland Lake (2003), Great Northern Ontario Mines (1995),Gold in Ontario (1995),Great Northern Characters (1995),Kirkland Lake on the Mile of Gold (1994), Fortunes in the Ground (1993), The Town that Stands on Gold (1978), Link With A Lonely Land (1985), Gold Camp Pioneer (1973).
[edit] Schooling
Kirkland Lake has two secondary schools, each catering to a different language group: the Ecole Catholique Jean Vanier, a French Catholic school; and the Kirkland Lake District Composite School, an English public school also featuring French immersion instruction (opened in 2006; from 1923 - 2006 students attended the Kirkland Lake Collegiate and Vocational Institute, also known as KLCVI).
Primary schools in Kirkland Lake include Central Public School (French immersion, public), Federal Public School (English, public), Sacred Heart School (French immersion and English, Catholic), St. Jerome School (French immersion and English, Catholic), and Ecole Assomption (French, Catholic).
KLCVI has had numerous mass reunions during the past twenty years, with the most recent having occurred in 2006.
[edit] External links
- Town of Kirkland Lake - official site
- Sir Harry Oakes Chateau
- Hockey Heritage North
- Ontario Plaques - Kirkland Lake Gold Camp
- Ontario Plaques - Swastika
- Kirkland Lake - Ontario Highway 11 Homepage
| West: Chaput Hughes | Kirkland Lake | East: King Kirkland |
| South: Harvey Kirkland |
