Wawa, Ontario, just like Wawa, Pennsylvania, was named for the Ojibwe word for wild goose. However, the similarities end there. Wawa, PA was a farming and dairy town, while Wawa, ON was all about mining iron and gold. We stopped at the Visitor's Center and learned of the various mining operations. Here is one of the ore cars that ran along the underground tracks.
The town of Wawa, ON grew as the mining operations grew, but there were no roads in or out. To get anywhere you had to go by train to Lake Superior and then by boat. To draw national attention to their plight, four Wawa residents walked the long, arduous and roadless section of coastline on the east shore of Lake Superior to where the highway construction had stalled because they said it was too rough to go any further. The local residents set out to prove that if they could walk the final 60 miles of shoreline, then surely a construction crew could build a road. The highway was finally completed on September 17, 1960. Here is an artists rendition of the four men of operation Michipicoten.
As we drove into town, Kathy saw a moose and had to stop and have her picture taken. We also did a little "Wawa" shopping.
A trip to Wawa would not be complete without a stroll along the shores of Wawa Lake. In 1899, Wawa was surveyed and plotted as a town and registered as Wawa City. In the latter half of the 1950s, the town's name was temporarily changed to Jamestown in honour of Sir James Hamet Dunn, but it was later returned to Wawa at the request of the community's residents. In Wawa, PA, the old town was subdivided into two townships, but the old residents still continued to address their mail Wawa, PA. You just can't keep a good Wawa down.
We continued our stroll along the lakeshore until we reached Lion Beach Park. Throughout the 1990s, Wawa and the Algoma Ore Division continued to be challenged by international market problems that plagued both the gold and iron mining industries. In December 1997, Algoma Steel announced that it could no longer support the high cost of extracting low-grade iron at Algoma Ore Division. Although Wawa's mountain of iron ore had more to give, operations were shut down in June 1998, one hundred years after iron was first discovered in this remote corner of northern Algoma. This drill rig was salvaged from the mine and brought down to the Lion Beach Park so folks could learn about the mining history of Wawa.
Last week, when we ran into Dennis and his dog, Buddy, he told us that Wawa had declined after the mine was shut down. Many of the mine employees were transferred from Wawa to Sault Ste. Marie to work in the steel mill. Somehow, after talking to Dennis, we expected Wawa to be a lot more run down. What we saw was folks making the best of it. Yes, there were a number of vacant store fronts, but the folks with properties were keeping them neat and fixed up. Dennis also mentioned to us that when we are in Wawa we should climb the hill and pick blueberries. We weren't exactly sure which hill we was referring to, but with all the blueberry bushes on every hill, it probably didn't much matter. We decided to hike in Mr. Vallee Park.
The park was started in the early 80’s by Mr. Arsene Vallee. After creating a staircase up the bluff, he continued to create a path to Anderson Lake. In order to do this he drained the swampy land by digging a drainage ditch 1,000 feet long, 3 feet wide and 5 feet deep. This veteran did this day after day, all by hand! At the end of the trail is Anderson Lake where he built a large picnic table and a fishing dock. We started our trek through Vallee Park by crossing over, you guessed it, the Wawa Creek.
It wasn't long before we found what we were looking for - blueberries! Unfortunately, at the same time as we were feasting on blueberries, the local mosquitoes were feasting on us!
We soon found ourselves at the end of the trail - Anderson Lake.
Time and weather conditions have not been kind to the park. The dock no longer exists and some of the stairs are in desperate need of repair. However, this did nothing to diminish the amazing views of Anderson Lake.
On the way back down, we took in the view of Wawa spread out before us.
Before long, our circular tour of Wawa was complete. We certainly enjoyed getting to know the "other" Wawa.
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