Wright Hargreaves Mine

Currently, the Wright Hargreaves Mine Gates are located in the Wright-Hargreaves Park. This park occupies part of the former Wright-Hargreaves mine property. The Wright Hargreaves Mine would become the second-most productive mine in the Kirkland lake Gold Camp – mining 9,934,327 tons of ore, and producing some 4,821,296 ounces of gold.

The large gate was situated at the entrance to the mine which stood on Duncan Avenue just south of the park. They were in fact located 500’ south of the road it is currently on. It was donated to the Town of Kirkland Lake by the families of William Wright and Edward Hargreaves. A dedication ceremony was held on July 3rd, 1982 when they were returned to the community after years spent in Barrie.

During the 1930’s much of the province, country and world suffered during the Great Depression. While Kirkland Lake did suffer in many ways, the gold industry continued to boom - this brought hundreds of hungry men to the North, desperate for work. These mine gates would mark the area where these men would stand and wait in line during “the hungry thirties” in the hopes of securing employment in the mines.