Searchmont (ghost town)

Searchmont is a seasonal town, providing excellent skiing in the winter (it draws people from the United States) and hiking/biking trails in the summer. There are resorts to accomodate seasonal tourists. There still exists a small and cozy train station as well as a large abandoned industrial factory nearby. Thanks to Cameron for showing me this site during the summer of 2002.

The old railway station still stands, how rare. However a sign on the station indicated that the Heritage Foundation would like to hear from anybody interested in saving the building. Yes, it’s scheduled to be demolished just as all old railway stations have been. Further down the railway station lies an old mill with plenty to explore. This isn’t an old town however it will provide you with a couple of hours of entertainment. Please don’t vandalize.

The factory behind the train station is the old lumber mill which belonged to Weldwood of Canada. There is a spur line to the Algoma Railway. I found the old furnaces to be very photogenic. Caution should be used while wandering around the mill, watch for sinkholes, nails, sharp objects and weak floors. Demolition was underway as of April 2014.

The church located on the site is St. Hubert. Judging from what I can gather, it was originally built in the 1920s, and used until the early 1990s. The interior is in excellent condition. There is a desk in the back room full of church documents, song books and even banners from different seasonal themes. There is also access to the pastors office upstairs, which looks to have been used mostly for storage. Outside the church is a small cemetery, which is more of a burial mound, as is it elevated from the surrounding land. Several white wooden crosses are found here, and only one stone.. that of Michael LeGould who died in 1923.

There are also a couple of other building on the factory site, including the Shipping Shack and two portable dorms.

Mike Faubert provided this information:

Hay and company started around 1957. The original mill machinery came from the Haliburton area. The mill was purchased by Weldwood of Canada and run until GW Martin purchased it. The mill was sold after Grenville Martin passed away in a plane crash. It run by Lajambe until it closed around 1989. There was a sawmill on the east side of the highway just as you enter searchmont , before the tracks. At one time a charcaol mill was located near the bottom of the ski hill. The train station still stands as in the photo on the same site. The public school was closed due to low enrollment, i believe about 12 students down from about 150 in the 70s.

Location: Take highway 17 west to Sault Ste Marie. Searchmont itself is on Highway 556 East.