Irondale (ghost town)

Irondale is located in the former Snowdon Township of Haliburton County, just off of County Rd. 503 in the Township of Minden Hills. Its original name was Devils Creek in 1870 when it existed in the northern section of Peterborough County.

W. Robinson and J.B. Campbell found large deposits of iron while clearing their lots. Soon Campbell formed a partnership with 2 men from Toronto, Sherits and Savigny, which became the Snowdon Iron Mining Company.

By 1874 more settlers moved in due to the boom. Peter Barr opened a store and post office.

A railway tramway was run from Howland Junction (then called Kendricks) to just past Furnace Falls (mile 4.9 on the line) to the Snowdon Mine (mile 6.75 on the line).

Soon American investors set up the mining operations of the iron. By 1887 the name of the town was changed to Irondale and the IB&OR Railroad was completed the same year. Steel tracks were laid along the old wooden tramway lines. Irondale(a)s station was located at mile 9.2 on the line.

The town now had 3 hotels, a boarding house, miners(a) cottages, 2 stores, 2 smiths, a shoemaker, St. Johns Church and a barrel factory. By 1890 there was a sawmill and a music teacher. Phone lines arrived by 1898.

The mine closed for good in 1900 and the town went bust. As well, the local farmers sold much of their produce to the miners and so their farms were abandoned. The railway did last until 1960 when then the rails were lifted and the land sold to adjoining property owners . The entire rail line is now a trail from the past. From Gooderham eastward it is a kept hiking trail, and from Irondale westward it is a barely visible unkept trail with bush overgrowth.