Nipigon ( , unlike the lake)
is a township in Thunder Bay
District
, Northwestern
Ontario, Canada
, located on
the most northern point of Lake Superior
and situated along the west side of the Nipigon River and south of the small Lake
Helen running between Lake Nipigon
and Lake Superior. The bay is situated to
the north and has several islands. Lake Nipigon is located about 20
to 30 km north of Nipigon.
Nipigon is served by several transportation corridors:
Economy
The chief industries in Nipigon are forest products, fishing, and
tourism.
Nipigon is a setting off point for fishing excursions onto Lake
Superior and the Nipigon River system leading up to Lake Nipigon.
Fish varieties common to this area include
Atlantic salmon,
lake
trout,
speckled trout (the
world's largest speckled trout was caught in the Nipigon River in
1915, weighing in at ),
rainbow trout,
walleye,
northern
pike and
perch. There is a number of
charter companies with skippers who have a knowledge of the waters
and can usually land anglers right on top of the fish.
Mill fire
On February 6, 2007, a devastating fire ripped through Multiply
Forest Products, burning the mill to the ground. The mill was the
main employer in the town.
Less than a month earlier workers at the mill
had purchased it from Columbia
Forest Products of Portland, Oregon
. At the time of the sale, a $4-million
modernization plan for the mill was also announced. More than 100
people were employed at the plant, which produced hardwood
underlayment for vinyl, ceramic tile and laminate flooring.
A cause for the fire has yet to be determined.
Geography
For about 15 km, Highway 11 runs within Nipigon River and a
lake.
Nipigon is located northeast of Thunder Bay
, southwest of Geraldton
and Longlac
, west of
Marathon
and
northwest of Sault Ste.
Marie. The crater on
Mars
named
Nipigon Crater or Crater
Nipigon is named after this town.
Nipigon is surrounded with pine and other varieties of forests. The
power line connecting from Lake Nipigon supplies electricity to
Thunder Bay and area. The other power line runs between Thunder Bay
and the rest of Ontario. Timbering has been common sporadically to
the north, the northwest and further north within Lake Nipigon
along with parts of the southwest which formed old forest roads to
the northeast and north.
The municipality of Greenstone
lies to the north. A manufacturing plant
lies to the south. Several other unincorporated municipalities were
around Nipigon.
A communications tower near Nipigon
broadcasts a local radio station and television channels from
Thunder Bay including CKPR
(TBT) and
CBQT.
There are two bridges at the east end of town spanning the Nipigon
River, one a single-line railway bridge, and the other a two-lane
road bridge. Collectively, they comprise the narrowest east-west
land link in Canada's transportation system. Both Highways 11 and
17, and both railways, route all their traffic across the bridges.
The only other east-west link in this part of Canada is the path
across the dam north of the town (not an actual road) or a few
logging roads far north of the town.
Nearest places
References
- Dr. JW Cook's World Record Brook Trout Was Caught
in 1915
External links
,
northeast
Wikis
Quiz
Map
Search