Sulphide, Ontario
Encyclopedia
Sulphide is a settlement in the municipality of Tweed
, Hastings County
, Ontario
, Canada
, about 4.5 kilometres (2.8 mi) west of the community of Hungerford
and 8 kilometres (5 mi) northeast of the village of Tweed
. Sulphide Creek
, a tributary of the Moira River
, flows through the community. Founded in 1836, the town was named for a series of local sulphur mines that were eventually terminated in the mid-1960's. The name of the town "Sulphide" came from the mineral that gave the town its existence. And it was by accident. A failed gold mine was reopened but what was found was not gold, it was pyrite, better known as ‘”fools gold”. As luck would have it, the sulphide in the pyrites was exactly what a chemical company needed. In 1905, a chemical company erected a large acid plant for the manufacture of sulphuric and sulphurous acid. The company - Nichol's Mining Company and its workers built a town that included a school, churches, community center and homes for the workers. For nearly fifty years, the uranium mines in nearby Bancroft provided the market for the acids. Then, in 1964, the uranium market collapsed. The mine was subsequently closed and buried, the plant dismantled and the company houses demolished. Today, Sulphide is home to country living, with some of the original private houses re-occupied. Still, there are some reminders of the past that do exist.
Tweed, Ontario
Tweed is a municipality and a village located in central-eastern Ontario, Canada, in Hastings County.The Municipality of Tweed is an amalgamated municipality comprising the former Village of Tweed and the former Townships of Hungerford and Elzevir & Grimsthorpe...
, Hastings County
Hastings County, Ontario
Hastings County is located in the province of Ontario, Canada. It is The Cheese Capital of Canada. Geographically, it is located on the border of Eastern Ontario and Central Ontario. The population was 125,915 in 2001 and grew to 130,474 in the 2006 Canada Census...
, 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...
, about 4.5 kilometres (2.8 mi) west of the community of Hungerford
Hungerford, Ontario
Hungerford is a settlement in the municipality of Tweed, Hastings County, Ontario, Canada, about east of the community of Sulphide and northeast of the village of Tweed. Sulphide Creek, a tributary of the Moira River, flows northwest the community....
and 8 kilometres (5 mi) northeast of the village of Tweed
Tweed, Ontario (village)
Tweed, Ontario is a community on Stoco Lake and the only urban centre in the Municipality of Tweed in Hastings County, central-eastern Ontario, Canada. Tweed has a population of 1,540 according to the 2001 Canada Census...
. Sulphide Creek
Sulphide Creek (Hastings County, Ontario)
Sulphide Creek is a creek in the Moira River and Lake Ontario drainage basins in Tweed, Hastings County and Addington Highlands, Lennox and Addington County in Ontario, Canada.-Course:...
, a tributary of the Moira River
Moira River
The Moira River is a river in Hastings County in eastern Ontario, Canada. It travels from its source in the centre of the county to the county seat Belleville and is named after Francis Rawdon-Hastings, Earl of Moira.-Course:...
, flows through the community. Founded in 1836, the town was named for a series of local sulphur mines that were eventually terminated in the mid-1960's. The name of the town "Sulphide" came from the mineral that gave the town its existence. And it was by accident. A failed gold mine was reopened but what was found was not gold, it was pyrite, better known as ‘”fools gold”. As luck would have it, the sulphide in the pyrites was exactly what a chemical company needed. In 1905, a chemical company erected a large acid plant for the manufacture of sulphuric and sulphurous acid. The company - Nichol's Mining Company and its workers built a town that included a school, churches, community center and homes for the workers. For nearly fifty years, the uranium mines in nearby Bancroft provided the market for the acids. Then, in 1964, the uranium market collapsed. The mine was subsequently closed and buried, the plant dismantled and the company houses demolished. Today, Sulphide is home to country living, with some of the original private houses re-occupied. Still, there are some reminders of the past that do exist.