Minaki, Ontario
Encyclopedia
Minaki is an unincorporated area and community in Unorganized Kenora District in northwestern
Ontario
, Canada
. It is located at the point where the Canadian National Railways transcontinental
main line
crosses the Winnipeg River
, between Wade
to the west and Ena Lake at the east, and was accessible only by rail until about 1960. It was a fuelling and watering point in the days of steam locomotives; now few trains stop in Minaki, though the thrice-weekly Via Rail
transcontinental Canadian passenger trains will stop on request at the Minaki railway station
.
Tourism is the economic mainstay of Minaki, with camps, lodges and marinas catering to anglers and hunters. It is the embarkation point for more than 100 water-access cottages on surrounding lakes. The largest group of cottagers are from Winnipeg
, about 3½ hours drive away, and from nearby U.S. states.
First nations people have lived on the Winnipeg River in the Minaki area for a millennium or more, judging by the potshards and arrow points that turn up along the shores. The river was a major canoe route for the explorers and fur traders in the early days of white settlement. In the nineteenth century the Hudson's Bay Company
had a trading post a couple of kilometres north of the present community.
The modern community of Minaki got its start about 1910 when the National Transcontinental Railway
built a bridge across the river near where Skipper Holst had built a hotel a few years earlier and called the place Winnipeg River Crossing. The booming city of Winnipeg was about three hours travel to the west on the railway, and in no time there was a land boom in vacation properties on the small lakes along the railway.
The Grand Trunk Pacific Railway
, which operated the line for the National Transcontinental, built a rustic resort hotel that it called the Minaki Lodge
and renamed the station Minaki, an Ojibwa word that has been variously translated as Beautiful Water or Good Land.
and yellow birch
of the northwestern tip of the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence forest meet the jack pine
, black spruce
and trembling aspen
of the boreal forest
. Most major stands of white pine were either cut by the Simpson and Short lumber company in the 1920s or destroyed by wildfires in the drought summers of the 1930s. The largest remaining stands of virgin pine timber, the trees that symbolize the rugged north for many Canadians, are on islands where they were protected from both logging and fire. Some areas north of the town have been or are being logged to supply the Kenora Forest Products lumber mill and a Weyerhauser oriented strand-board mill, both in Kenora.
Located about 45 minutes north of Kenora at the north end of paved Highway 596, the hamlet of Minaki is gateway to lakes and rivers of the Ontario portion of the Winnipeg River system, including Gun, Sand, Pistol and Roughrock lakes. Fly-in service is available to the English River and lakes farther north. Area lakes offer bass
, muskie, northern pike
and walleye
. There are also many black bear
, moose
and deer
in the rugged woods surrounding the town.
Many islands scatter the lakes. The main vacation season is July and August, with the August long weekend
the peak of the summer season. Anglers also visit in the spring and hunters in the fall. Visitors to Minaki are few in the November-April period, though snow-machine traffic from Kenora to points farther north passes a few kilometres away from the community. Year-round population of the immediate Minaki area is estimated by residents at about 130. At the height of summer, the seasonal population of surrounding lakes served through Minaki is about 1,000.
The largest lake adjacent to Minaki is Sand Lake, which is north of the townsite. The part north of Harbour Island and Moore's Point is known as Big Sand Lake; the basin generally west of Harbour Island and Moore's Point is known as Little Sand Lake.
Northwestern Ontario
Northwestern Ontario is the region within the Canadian province of Ontario which lies north and west of Lake Superior, and west of Hudson Bay and James Bay. It includes most of subarctic Ontario. Its western boundary is the Canadian province of Manitoba, which disputed Ontario's claim to the...
Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. It is located at the point where the Canadian National Railways transcontinental
Transcontinental railroad
A transcontinental railroad is a contiguous network of railroad trackage that crosses a continental land mass with terminals at different oceans or continental borders. Such networks can be via the tracks of either a single railroad, or over those owned or controlled by multiple railway companies...
main line
Main line (railway)
The Mainline or Main line of a railway is a track that is used for through trains or is the principal artery of the system from which branch lines, yards, sidings and spurs are connected....
crosses the Winnipeg River
Winnipeg River
The Winnipeg River is a Canadian river which flows from Lake of the Woods in the province of Ontario to Lake Winnipeg in Manitoba. This river is long from the Norman Dam in Kenora to its mouth at Lake Winnipeg. Its watershed is in area, mainly in Canada. About of this area is in northern...
, between Wade
Wade, Ontario
Wade is an unincorporated place and railway point in Unorganized Kenora District in northwestern Ontario, Canada.It lies on the Canadian National Railway transcontinental main line, between Ottermere to the west and Minaki to the east, has a passing track, and is passed but not served by Via Rail...
to the west and Ena Lake at the east, and was accessible only by rail until about 1960. It was a fuelling and watering point in the days of steam locomotives; now few trains stop in Minaki, though the thrice-weekly Via Rail
VIA Rail
Via Rail Canada is an independent crown corporation offering intercity passenger rail services in Canada. It is headquartered near Montreal Central Station at 3 Place Ville-Marie in Montreal, Quebec....
transcontinental Canadian passenger trains will stop on request at the Minaki railway station
Minaki railway station
Minaki railway station is located in the community of Minaki in Unorganized Kenora District in northwestern Ontario, Canada. The station is on the Canadian National Railway transcontinental main line, and is in use by Via Rail as a stop for transcontinental Canadian trains....
.
Tourism is the economic mainstay of Minaki, with camps, lodges and marinas catering to anglers and hunters. It is the embarkation point for more than 100 water-access cottages on surrounding lakes. The largest group of cottagers are from Winnipeg
Winnipeg
Winnipeg is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada, and is the primary municipality of the Winnipeg Capital Region, with more than half of Manitoba's population. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers .The name...
, about 3½ hours drive away, and from nearby U.S. states.
History
Hudson's Bay Company
The Hudson's Bay Company , abbreviated HBC, or "The Bay" is the oldest commercial corporation in North America and one of the oldest in the world. A fur trading business for much of its existence, today Hudson's Bay Company owns and operates retail stores throughout Canada...
had a trading post a couple of kilometres north of the present community.
The modern community of Minaki got its start about 1910 when the National Transcontinental Railway
National Transcontinental Railway
The National Transcontinental Railway was a historic Canadian railway between Winnipeg and Moncton. Much of the line is now operated by the Canadian National Railway.-The Grand Trunk partnership:...
built a bridge across the river near where Skipper Holst had built a hotel a few years earlier and called the place Winnipeg River Crossing. The booming city of Winnipeg was about three hours travel to the west on the railway, and in no time there was a land boom in vacation properties on the small lakes along the railway.
The Grand Trunk Pacific Railway
Grand Trunk Pacific Railway
The Grand Trunk Pacific Railway was a historical Canadian railway.A wholly owned subsidiary of the Grand Trunk Railway , the GTPR was constructed by GTR using loans provided by the Government of Canada. The company was formed in 1903 with a mandate to build west from Winnipeg, Manitoba to the...
, which operated the line for the National Transcontinental, built a rustic resort hotel that it called the Minaki Lodge
Minaki Lodge
Minaki Lodge formerly part of the chain of Canadian National Hotels was originally built in 1914 by the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway . Located on the route of the National Transcontinental Railway at Minaki, Ontario, between Sioux Lookout and Winnipeg, where the railway crosses the Winnipeg River,...
and renamed the station Minaki, an Ojibwa word that has been variously translated as Beautiful Water or Good Land.
Local government
Minaki has no local government as it is an unincorporated community located in an unorganized area, outside any incorporated townships. The Minaki Local Roads Board maintains the few roads in the community. There are also a volunteer fire department and a volunteer first response team. The Minaki Foundation, a registered charity incorporated in 1986, raises money to support these and other local initiatives.Geography
Minaki is at the boundary where the white pineEastern White Pine
Pinus strobus, commonly known as the eastern white pine, is a large pine native to eastern North America, occurring from Newfoundland west to Minnesota and southeastern Manitoba, and south along the Appalachian Mountains to the northern edge of Georgia.It is occasionally known as simply white pine,...
and yellow birch
Yellow Birch
Betula alleghaniensis , is a species of birch native to eastern North America, from Newfoundland to Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, southern Quebec and Ontario, and the southeast corner of Manitoba in Canada, west to Minnesota, and south in the Appalachian Mountains to northern Georgia.It is a...
of the northwestern tip of the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence forest meet the jack pine
Jack Pine
Jack pine is a North American pine with its native range in Canada east of the Rocky Mountains from Northwest Territories to Nova Scotia, and the northeast of the United States from Minnesota to Maine, with the southernmost part of the range just into northwest Indiana...
, black spruce
Black Spruce
Picea mariana is a species of spruce native to northern North America, from Newfoundland west to Alaska, and south to northern New York, Minnesota and central British Columbia...
and trembling aspen
Aspen
Populus section Populus, of the Populus genus, includes the aspen trees and the white poplar Populus alba. The five typical aspens are all native to cold regions with cool summers, in the north of the Northern Hemisphere, extending south at high altitudes in the mountains. The White Poplar, by...
of the boreal forest
Taiga
Taiga , also known as the boreal forest, is a biome characterized by coniferous forests.Taiga is the world's largest terrestrial biome. In North America it covers most of inland Canada and Alaska as well as parts of the extreme northern continental United States and is known as the Northwoods...
. Most major stands of white pine were either cut by the Simpson and Short lumber company in the 1920s or destroyed by wildfires in the drought summers of the 1930s. The largest remaining stands of virgin pine timber, the trees that symbolize the rugged north for many Canadians, are on islands where they were protected from both logging and fire. Some areas north of the town have been or are being logged to supply the Kenora Forest Products lumber mill and a Weyerhauser oriented strand-board mill, both in Kenora.
Located about 45 minutes north of Kenora at the north end of paved Highway 596, the hamlet of Minaki is gateway to lakes and rivers of the Ontario portion of the Winnipeg River system, including Gun, Sand, Pistol and Roughrock lakes. Fly-in service is available to the English River and lakes farther north. Area lakes offer bass
Bass (fish)
Bass is a name shared by many different species of popular gamefish. The term encompasses both freshwater and marine species. All belong to the large order Perciformes, or perch-like fishes, and in fact the word bass comes from Middle English bars, meaning "perch."-Types of basses:*The temperate...
, muskie, northern pike
Northern Pike
The northern pike , is a species of carnivorous fish of the genus Esox...
and walleye
Walleye
Walleye is a freshwater perciform fish native to most of Canada and to the northern United States. It is a North American close relative of the European pikeperch...
. There are also many black bear
American black bear
The American black bear is a medium-sized bear native to North America. It is the continent's smallest and most common bear species. Black bears are omnivores, with their diets varying greatly depending on season and location. They typically live in largely forested areas, but do leave forests in...
, moose
Moose
The moose or Eurasian elk is the largest extant species in the deer family. Moose are distinguished by the palmate antlers of the males; other members of the family have antlers with a dendritic configuration...
and deer
Deer
Deer are the ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. Species in the Cervidae family include white-tailed deer, elk, moose, red deer, reindeer, fallow deer, roe deer and chital. Male deer of all species and female reindeer grow and shed new antlers each year...
in the rugged woods surrounding the town.
Many islands scatter the lakes. The main vacation season is July and August, with the August long weekend
Public holidays in Canada
Public holidays in Canada known as "statutory holidays," "stats" or "stat holidays" are legislated at the national, provincial and territorial levels...
the peak of the summer season. Anglers also visit in the spring and hunters in the fall. Visitors to Minaki are few in the November-April period, though snow-machine traffic from Kenora to points farther north passes a few kilometres away from the community. Year-round population of the immediate Minaki area is estimated by residents at about 130. At the height of summer, the seasonal population of surrounding lakes served through Minaki is about 1,000.
The largest lake adjacent to Minaki is Sand Lake, which is north of the townsite. The part north of Harbour Island and Moore's Point is known as Big Sand Lake; the basin generally west of Harbour Island and Moore's Point is known as Little Sand Lake.