Atikokan Historical Park

The Atikokan Historical Park features local history exhibits from the lumber and mining industry. You will find old pieces of equipment that were used in the mining of Steep Rock. Please stay off the equipment.

1. Lima Shay Locomotive, was used by the Shevlin-Clarke Company between Clearwater Lake and Turtle Dam from 1913 to 1924, when logs were floated through the river system to the mill in Fort Frances.

2. The Canadian National Caboose was built at the Pointe St. Charles Shops, in Montreal Quebec. This caboose saw service on main and secondary lines across Canada. In the Western Provinces it was attached to grain, potash, coal, and sulphur unit trains. In the Eastern routes it was the conductor's office at the end of the train.

3. The Golden Winner Mine operated from 10 months 1899-1990. The company milled 15 tons of ore and profited on $70.00, at the 1900 price. Sleigh ruts of the lumber camps were iced on purpose, using a water tank on runners. There were holes in the tank bottom to drain water along the roads. The roads would freeze overnight providing a fresh ice surface for the next's day's hauling.

4. The Barienger Brake was often referred to as a crazy wheel due to its complexity. Six steel drum pulleys, wired with strong cable is actually a large block and tackle system, providing an incredible mechanical advantage moving large loads on wagons and sleighs down inclines. This capstan was used at Dashawa Lake. The capstan was powered by horses walking in a continuous circle winding in the rope that pulled booms of logs (as large as 2000 logs) across lakes. The capstan was anchored on a wanigan (large raft about 15 meters long and 10 meters wide) which worked in concert with the winch boat.

5. The underground iron ore car holds a ton of ore and was used in the B-1 Shaft on the south side of the Errington ore body of Steep Rock Iron Mince. Running along tracks like a train, the ore cars hauled iron ore from shafts 800 meters deep to production dumps, when conveyors lifted the ore 400 meters to surface bin to be loaded into rail cars.

6. The dredge anchor weighs 365 kilograms. Steep Rock Iron mines and Caland Ore Company used four dredges to de-water the lakes; The Marmion, the Steep Rock, the Joseph L. Block and the Clarence B. Randall.

7. Blasting shelters protected the blaster and the foreman from the concussion of the blast. Dynamite, sirens, and earth-moving machines were the principle methods of open-pit mining.

8. The monitor Hose was used during the sluicing operation between 1944 and 1950 when more than 20 million cubic yards of over-burden covering the Errington ore body was reduced to a slurry that could be pumped away. The principle of the Bucyrus Erie Churn Drill was quite simple. The gasoline or electric power unit drove a crank arrangement through a belt drive. This imparted reciprocating action to the hoist rope, which caused the bit to be continuously raised and dropped in the hole to break up the rock, clay and sand particles. The drill bit consisted of a steel rod sharpened to a chisel point. Water poured into the drill hole and formed a slurry from the churning action of the drill bit and the drill cuttings.

9. the first Euclid dump truck held 45 tons of ore that was scooped up with electric shovels. In the final years of mining their capacity was increased to 65 tons. These trucks hauled ore to the crushing and pelletizing plants.

The Historical Park is also a landing site for the Path of the Paddle and The Great Trail. You will find signs along Main Street that direct portages to their next entry point.

How to Get There:

Starting at the Atikokan Centennial Museum, turn left onto Main Street East and make your way over the foot bridge. From there roam around the point and see the different exhibits on display.