Top 3 Abandoned Places In Marmora And Lake

There are so many abandoned places in Marmora And Lake! This is a list of the top three abandoned places in Marmora And Lake. Browse through all abandoned places in Marmora And Lake

1. Marmora Mine

Marmoratan Mine

The town of Marmora, originally named Marmora Iron Works, had seen mining activity as early as 1820.

In 1949 an aeromagnetic survey was conducted by the Ontario Dept. of Mines and the Canadian Geological Survey. The $40,000 survey revealed a magnetic anomaly that interested geologists at the Bethlehem Steel Corporation in New York.

In May, 1950 Bethlehem Steel purchased a 290 acre tract of property. The following year the company diamond drilled approximately 40 holes ranging from 460 to 1800 feet to further investigate the ore body.

In 1953 Bethlehem Steel began construction of the Marmoraton Mine. In order to gain access to the magnetite, the mine first had to blast away 120 feet of limestone. When initial blasting was complete, the open pit measured approximately 1700 feet by 1200 feet with a depth of 600 feet. In total over 73 million tonnes of rock has been removed from the open pit mine.

The Marmoraton Mine officially opened on May 11, 1955 with a ribbon cutting ceremony. The president of Bethlehem Steel, A.B. Homer cut a ribbon connecting the Powell Stackhouse ship to the ore dock in Picton. The ceremony was attended by federal, provincial and civic employees.

Marmoratan Mine was quite efficient. Once the crude ore was extracted, magnetic separators sorted the different minerals. The iron was concentrated into high density pellets that were easier to ship and more economical in making steel.

Each day 30 to 35 railway cars delivered iron ore pellets to Picton where they would be loaded onto boats and shipped to the company's blast furnaces in Lackawanna, New York. Annual product was in the range of over 520,000 tons of low-grade ore.

Two 250 horsepower water pumps removed over 20,000,000 gallons of water from the pit monthly.

The operation initially employed 270 local workers, a number that grew to approximately 300.

On January 3, 1978 Bethlehem Steel announced that due to poor business conditions the mine would close on March 31, 1978. The final shipment consisting of 23,833 tons of ore pellets was shipped on April 30th. Marmoratane Mine was then purchased by Armbro Holdings for potential use as a rock quarry.

Today the water pumps have fallen silent and the pit is estimated to be filled with 656 feet of water and officially classified as a lake.

Canada Talc Limited purchased the mill to process ore from the Madoc talc mine.

There is currently a proposal to build a unique hydro electric generating station on the abandoned site which would provide a source of stored electricity.

2. Shanick (ghost town murder)

This is another ghost town that no one seems to know about. A fellow historian from Oshawa sent me a link about this awesome place NE of Marmora near Cordova Mines and another unknown ghost hamlet called Shaw.

The first settlers to this area on the Beaver Creek were granted land in 1848. The 1st Shanick post office opened in 1864 with James Bailey as postmaster.

The village(a)s 20 homes were spread out along the Shanick Rd. and its small off-roads. I am guessing a population of 100.

In 1880 the Airhart lumber mill was constructed and that gave the village a real economic boost. Once the mill was closed the community went into a real decline around 1930. The post office went through closures and re-openings until 1931 when it was closed for good as the town was by that point almost a ghost town.

Today the community no longer has a post office or a school house, but the population is increasing again to the south.

This website has some great photos past and present..http://shanickhistory.googlepages.com/

There are some great stories on that site too. Here is one frightening one:

Murder Legend of Shanick (according to Ruth Tierney)-

"George Franklin was the pioneer postmaster. It was claimed that he could neither read nor write (but this was proven false by his great relatives). To overcome his handicap and avoid confusion he laid the mail in neat order on a long table from which the recipients chose their own letters. In 1915 George was elected to the Shannick School Board. On one particular occasion a board inspector found obsolete and outdated pre-WW1 maps on the school room wall. From these maps the students were attempting to improve their knowledge of geography. Never the less, George managed to get re-elected for a second term.

One day George Franklin went to visit his brother, who lived in a settlers shack at Whetstone Rapids on Beaver Creek, a mile or two east of Shannick. On arrival he called his brothers name and receiving no reply. (They figured he drown. A search party was put in place and dynamite was used to blow up the creek to bring the body to the surface). (It is claimed) that they found him face down in the water with an axe buried in his skull. Police were notified and a search was carried out, but the killer was never caught and a motive was never established."

For other ghost town murder stories on here check out: Monsell, Uffington, Lewisham, Reesor Siding, Mowat, Redwater, Michipicoten, Bury(a)s Green and Dalton Mills.

There is a map below showing Shanick(a)s exact location. Take Cordova Rd to Beaver Creek Rd. Head east to Centre Line and head north up Shanick Rd. The actual downtown of Shanick is just past the Beaver Creek, which is still a fair distance up the road.

Enjoy my photos as I got some real beauties there in Sept. 2009.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/chawimages/sets/72157606279485055/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/chawimages/sets/72157606276111638/

3. Church in Eldorado

This Beautiful Church is settled in the tiny town of Eldorado, but don't blink you will drive right on through. In 1866 gold was discovered in the farming community of Eldorado Ontario, bringing about 3 to 4 year rise and fall of this small town. However there was only a small amount of gold ever discovered here by 1870 the boom was over and the people moved on leaving this tiny town left behind.