Reesor, Ontario
Encyclopedia
Reesor is a ghost town
located in Cochrane District, Ontario
on the Trans-Canada Highway
. It was named after Thomas Reesor (1867-1954), a Mennonite
minister from Markham, Ontario
, who sponsored and helped to settle new German-speaking Mennonite immigrants from the Soviet Union
here around 1925.
A school was built in 1927. By the fall of 1928, Reesor had 226 persons on 55 homesteads; in total 35 acres of timbered land had been cleared for farming.
By the 1930s, the town included a freight station, a store, lumber yard, blacksmith shop, garage, and pool hall. The Reesor United Mennonite Church began services in 1926; a building and cemetery were added in the mid-1930s on Lot 26, Conc. II, McGowan Township, about three miles north of the siding.
Besides the Mennonites, the area was also home to a small number of French Canadians.
The transition from cutting pulpwood to agriculture proved to be very difficult in Reesor. By 1935, Reesor's population had slipped to 150. The settlement continued to decline through the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, as better opportunities opened in southern Ontario. The Mennonite congregation finally dissolved on 5 January 1948. By the 1970s, all the businesses of Reesor had been closed.
Logging continued to play a role with remaining settlers of the region. In 1963, Reesor-Siding (2.8 km east of the Reesor community proper) was the site of the Reesor Siding Strike
, one of the defining labour conflicts in Canadian history.
In 2007, a play was written about the Mennonite settlement in Reesor by Lauren Taylor and Erin Brandenburg.
Ghost town
A ghost town is an abandoned town or city. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economic activity that supported it has failed, or due to natural or human-caused disasters such as floods, government actions, uncontrolled lawlessness, war, or nuclear disasters...
located in Cochrane District, 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....
on the Trans-Canada Highway
Trans-Canada Highway
The Trans-Canada Highway is a federal-provincial highway system that joins the ten provinces of Canada. It is, along with the Trans-Siberian Highway and Australia's Highway 1, one of the world's longest national highways, with the main route spanning 8,030 km...
. It was named after Thomas Reesor (1867-1954), a Mennonite
Mennonite
The Mennonites are a group of Christian Anabaptist denominations named after the Frisian Menno Simons , who, through his writings, articulated and thereby formalized the teachings of earlier Swiss founders...
minister from Markham, Ontario
Markham, Ontario
Markham is a town in the Regional Municipality of York, located within the Greater Toronto Area of Southern Ontario, Canada. The population was 261,573 at the 2006 Canadian census...
, who sponsored and helped to settle new German-speaking Mennonite immigrants from the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
here around 1925.
A school was built in 1927. By the fall of 1928, Reesor had 226 persons on 55 homesteads; in total 35 acres of timbered land had been cleared for farming.
By the 1930s, the town included a freight station, a store, lumber yard, blacksmith shop, garage, and pool hall. The Reesor United Mennonite Church began services in 1926; a building and cemetery were added in the mid-1930s on Lot 26, Conc. II, McGowan Township, about three miles north of the siding.
Besides the Mennonites, the area was also home to a small number of French Canadians.
The transition from cutting pulpwood to agriculture proved to be very difficult in Reesor. By 1935, Reesor's population had slipped to 150. The settlement continued to decline through the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, as better opportunities opened in southern Ontario. The Mennonite congregation finally dissolved on 5 January 1948. By the 1970s, all the businesses of Reesor had been closed.
Logging continued to play a role with remaining settlers of the region. In 1963, Reesor-Siding (2.8 km east of the Reesor community proper) was the site of the Reesor Siding Strike
Reesor Siding Strike of 1963
The Reesor Siding Strike of 1963 was one of the defining labour conflicts in Canadian history, resulting in the shooting of 11 union members, three of whom were killed...
, one of the defining labour conflicts in Canadian history.
In 2007, a play was written about the Mennonite settlement in Reesor by Lauren Taylor and Erin Brandenburg.
Links
- Ontario Ghost Towns: Reesor; Reesor Siding