The History - Burwash and a Town Within
M. Curtin with the assistance of the Ontario Archives
#1
On September 14, 1914, the Ontario Government passed an Order in Council to establish Burwash Industrial Farm. On the 18th of September Clarence Fletcher Neelands (think Neilly Lake) newly appointed as Superintendent, Sgt. Norman Sydney Oliver and nine Guelph inmates arrived at Burwash Station (think CP, or Estaire), which was and is located in the southwest corner of Burwash Township.
The party struck off for the interior of the designated property, pitching their first camp and soon building the first permanent structure at Camp 1, later known as Camp Spruce.
#2
The development of "Industrial Farms" in Ontario reflected the reform of Ontario's penal system, commenced in 1909, and mirrored similar change in other jurisdictions. Prior to that period, the province operated municipal and county "Gaols" to hold persons serving time for crimes committed. These jails and institutions were meant to confine prisoners, protect the public and maintain security. Although some had walled yards for outdoor exercise, there was little freedom of movement and prisoners remained in cells for most of each day.
In 1909 The Hon. W. J. Hanna, Provincial Secretary responsible for jails and institutions, led efforts that focused on inmate reform, inmate education and cost reduction. By the spring of 1910 property at Guelph was allocated for the development of a prison farm where inmates would work out of doors during the day.
Hanna spoke of the success of the program throughout the province, and in 1913 the Sudbury Board of Trade petitioned the government to establish a prison farm to serve the districts of Algoma, Sudbury and Nipissing. There were a number of proposed locations in each of the districts, which had to be investigated before a final site could be determined.
Hanna instructed S. E. Todd, Director of Farms, to examine sites near Sault Ste. Marie, Sudbury and North Bay. Todd, combining business with pleasure, contacted Arthur Storey, ardent sportsman and Ontario Provincial Police inspector responsible for Sudbury policing, to arrange a fishing trip to tour the sites.
#3
Although the fishing at North Bay and Sault Ste. Marie may have been better, the shallow valley leading out of present day Estaire to Camp 1 and beyond, now framing highway 69, offered flat farm land with good rail transportation at little initial expense. The 13,000 acres identified in Burwash and Servos Townships was Crown Land, with the exception of a very small acreage of claims, which was purchased from the owners.
It would also have been apparent that neighbouring Laura Township, which was also Crown Land, would be available for expansion. By early 1915 all of Laura Township was added to the Institution, resulting in a total of 35,000 acres. These boundaries extended over the years with the lumbering operations to 70,000 acres through Provincial forestry management agreements.
#4
I know we want to get into town, but it wasn’t there in 1914. With the exception of the railway, transportation routes were non-existent within the farm property that first year. Contact beyond the property wasn’t much better. Highway 69 wasn’t built until the 50’s, and the “Old Burwash Road” connecting the prison to Sudbury was not completed until 1933.
In 1914 a series of local roads (Wanup Road) linked small lumbering, mining and railroad communities south of Sudbury, on the east side of today’s Highway 69. The roads were reduced to cart and logging trails that skirted the Wanapitei River near St. Cloud, nearby Quartz Mine, since disappeared, and Wanup, eventually leading to the Estaire area via a link through the bush and Nepewassi Lake. These last routes may have been limited to winter months, leaving train travel as the only alternative during the first years of operation of Burwash Industrial Farm.
Train access improved substantially in 1915 with the addition of Laura Township when work crews immediately cleared a 7.5 Mile road to connect the Canadian Pacific siding at Burwash Station (Estaire) with the Canadian Northern Railway siding, later to become the Canadian National Railway siding, at what soon became that part of the town known as Farmlands.
This road dictated all further development within the property.
#5
The acquisition of Laura Township in 1915 followed the increased demand for cell space in Northern Ontario due to the outbreak of the First World War and the resulting recession in the local economy. Crimes such as vagrancy increased greatly and the population at Burwash swelled to 180 inmates. Although a temporary wooden camp was in place at Camp 1 by late 1914, access to land gained with Laura Township and the new road to the CNR siding permitted further development of the interior.
In the summer of 1915 a small log camp was built on the banks of the Wanapitei River (Rocky Roost) and in late fall of 1915 work was commenced on what became the main camp along a string of small lakes approximately in the center of the whole property. Sixty prisoners were place in a tented camp on the shore of the largest lake and the construction of the first building at the Main Camp was completed on January 31, 1916.
Neilly Lake became perhaps the most notable geographic feature of the town site over the years, providing a scenic entry and vista for the town, ice for refrigeration, a means to transport logs to the planning mill and a source of recreation. Up until the late 40”s a small park, complete with rustic roofed tables, toilets, change rooms, storage shed and a small sand beach provided a picnic and swimming area below the hill opposite the store and adjacent to the “Royal York” single men’s quarters.
The beach fell into disuse, in part because the lake bottom was apparently dynamited in a fruitless search for a drowned goboy, who later turned up in good heath in Toronto. However, abandoning the lake for Rocky Roost and, thanks to a new bridge and road, Millard Lake, was more likely due to Nealy Lake becoming the final destination of the effluent from the waste water and sewage systems constructed above the Mill and next to the quarry. Curiously enough, as the swimmers went elsewhere fishing increased dramatically thanks to a voracious breed of pike, slightly smaller than a Muskie that seemed to flourish in great numbers without any apparent source of other aquatic prey or nutrients.
#6
A log building was built at Camp 5 in 1917 to provided shelter for 15 men and staff engaged in winter logging operations. A cable ferry was used to cross the Wanapitei River and logging operations were eventually extended to Millard Lake.
The camp was rebuilt in 1925 to better accommodate single guards and 125 inmates building roads, clearing land and working in forestry, farming and construction. The wood frame buildings included shops, powerhouse, auditorium, dining room, dormitory and offices. The separate guard’s quarters, with it’s cream siding and darker trim, and within sight of the river, had the feel of a sportsman’s lodge. A hallway beyond the large sun porch entry passed through the central commons room, complete with pool table and oak Morris chairs, and continued further to the individual rooms for the residents.
On June 8, 1960, 400 guests and dignitaries attended the opening of a “new” Camp Bison. The $2.6 million dollar complex had capacity for 210 inmates in separate rooms with private washrooms and included a butcher shop and bakery to serve the entire institution.
Superintendent J. Heddle hosted the reception, Rev. E. D. Leigh and Brigadier MacInnis led prayers and Fr. Campeau provided blessings while admonishing the fact that the inclusion of a chapel had been overlooked. J.R. Elliott, retired Farm Manager and W.L. McJanett, former Superintendent, also attended.
The name “Bison” was in recognition of the Wood Buffalo that roamed the Burwash property and were often sited in the Camp 5 area. In the 30’s specimens were transported to Sudbury from Western Canada as part of a city event and later set free at Burwash. Elk were also often seen at Camp 5 into the 60’s. Ontario’s elk population was almost wiped out by the early 1900s but were reintroduced at Burwash between 1930 and 1950 when elk were brought to the farm from Alberta. Elk have since been reintroduced once again through the Elk Restoration Program.
#7
The inmate population doubled in 1916 when the Guelph Reformatory was converted into a veteran hospital and rehabilitation center and 200 men were transferred to Burwash. By November 1917, 355 men were in custody; 143 at Camp 1,150 at Camp 2 and the remaining 62 at bush camps 3, 4 and 5.
The nature and purpose of Camp 1 remained relatively unchanged throughout the years. In 1917 the main building contained an office, dining area, dormitory and a single guards’ quarters. There was a four-room house for the senior guard and an icehouse, root house and stables supported ongoing operations. As camp 1 was the entry point for new inmates there was also a fumigation building. Like Camp 5, transportation was limited and the administration depended upon single guards who lived on site. The farming operation included work horses, beef cattle and crops.
Although a large herd of sheep was kept at Camp 1 into the 50’s, sheep were phased out of the farming program because of high maintenance and care requirements.
Two of the bush camps were later abandoned. Camp 3, two miles north of the pump house on the Wanapitei River, later know as "Rocky Roost", had a main building and a cookhouse. A gang of 15 inmates would walk out from Camp #2 on a daily basis. The two log buildings remained visible as late as the 60's. In the 40's and 50's families would travel by boat from the pump house to a small beach on the opposite shore to picnic and swim.
Camp 4 had one building to accommodate 40 men clearing land and logging between Camps 1 and 2. The road heading NW at the bottom of the Camp 1 hill leads to the fields they cleared. The inmates would walk back to the main camp each Sunday to shower with hot water and to exchange clothing.
#8
The following is a summary of information provided on the “Pioneer Museum” Website - Iroquois Falls, Monteith Centre, regarding the Monteith Correctional Centre.
In 1914 the Ontario government built a demonstration farm at Monteith to develop agricultural methods suited to the north. The facility included an administration building that accommodated classrooms that were used to teach these farming practices to settlers migrating to the region. At the end of the 1st war returning veterans intent on farming took instruction at the briefly named “Soldiers and Sailors Training School”.
In 1920 the school building was converted to a boarding Academy for boys and girls while the farm continued to operate as a government resource to the local farming industry. The Academy closed in 1935 and remained empty until 1937 when the brick school building was transformed into a jail and reopened as a branch of Burwash Industrial Farm.
In 1939 it was closed and the property was handed over to the Federal Government to serve as an internment camp for prisoners of war. A hospital, cookery, and huts were built for 4,000 prisoners. The POW camp closed in 1946 and was returned to the Ontario government, which then established the Monteith Industrial Farm.
Ontario inherited the POW (prisoner of war) “huts” when the Monteith property was returned by the Federal Government. An architect was assigned to convert the buildings for other purposes, such as shops and training classes at the Guelph Reformatory and instructor and student accommodation at the Dorset Forestry School. A number were shipped to Burwash where the arrival of this “new” housing by CNR flatcar at Farmlands coincided with the increased demand for family housing. The single story buildings were installed on each side of the main street on the hill beyond the recently built duplexes and apartment buildings in the square. Some of the relocated buildings were used for the expansion of the public school. All were covered in John Mansfield siding.
On September 14, 1914, the Ontario Government passed an Order in Council to establish Burwash Industrial Farm. On the 18th of September Clarence Fletcher Neelands (think Neilly Lake) newly appointed as Superintendent, Sgt. Norman Sydney Oliver and nine Guelph inmates arrived at Burwash Station (think CP, or Estaire), which was and is located in the southwest corner of Burwash Township.
The party struck off for the interior of the designated property, pitching their first camp and soon building the first permanent structure at Camp 1, later known as Camp Spruce.
#2
The development of "Industrial Farms" in Ontario reflected the reform of Ontario's penal system, commenced in 1909, and mirrored similar change in other jurisdictions. Prior to that period, the province operated municipal and county "Gaols" to hold persons serving time for crimes committed. These jails and institutions were meant to confine prisoners, protect the public and maintain security. Although some had walled yards for outdoor exercise, there was little freedom of movement and prisoners remained in cells for most of each day.
In 1909 The Hon. W. J. Hanna, Provincial Secretary responsible for jails and institutions, led efforts that focused on inmate reform, inmate education and cost reduction. By the spring of 1910 property at Guelph was allocated for the development of a prison farm where inmates would work out of doors during the day.
Hanna spoke of the success of the program throughout the province, and in 1913 the Sudbury Board of Trade petitioned the government to establish a prison farm to serve the districts of Algoma, Sudbury and Nipissing. There were a number of proposed locations in each of the districts, which had to be investigated before a final site could be determined.
Hanna instructed S. E. Todd, Director of Farms, to examine sites near Sault Ste. Marie, Sudbury and North Bay. Todd, combining business with pleasure, contacted Arthur Storey, ardent sportsman and Ontario Provincial Police inspector responsible for Sudbury policing, to arrange a fishing trip to tour the sites.
#3
Although the fishing at North Bay and Sault Ste. Marie may have been better, the shallow valley leading out of present day Estaire to Camp 1 and beyond, now framing highway 69, offered flat farm land with good rail transportation at little initial expense. The 13,000 acres identified in Burwash and Servos Townships was Crown Land, with the exception of a very small acreage of claims, which was purchased from the owners.
It would also have been apparent that neighbouring Laura Township, which was also Crown Land, would be available for expansion. By early 1915 all of Laura Township was added to the Institution, resulting in a total of 35,000 acres. These boundaries extended over the years with the lumbering operations to 70,000 acres through Provincial forestry management agreements.
#4
I know we want to get into town, but it wasn’t there in 1914. With the exception of the railway, transportation routes were non-existent within the farm property that first year. Contact beyond the property wasn’t much better. Highway 69 wasn’t built until the 50’s, and the “Old Burwash Road” connecting the prison to Sudbury was not completed until 1933.
In 1914 a series of local roads (Wanup Road) linked small lumbering, mining and railroad communities south of Sudbury, on the east side of today’s Highway 69. The roads were reduced to cart and logging trails that skirted the Wanapitei River near St. Cloud, nearby Quartz Mine, since disappeared, and Wanup, eventually leading to the Estaire area via a link through the bush and Nepewassi Lake. These last routes may have been limited to winter months, leaving train travel as the only alternative during the first years of operation of Burwash Industrial Farm.
Train access improved substantially in 1915 with the addition of Laura Township when work crews immediately cleared a 7.5 Mile road to connect the Canadian Pacific siding at Burwash Station (Estaire) with the Canadian Northern Railway siding, later to become the Canadian National Railway siding, at what soon became that part of the town known as Farmlands.
This road dictated all further development within the property.
#5
The acquisition of Laura Township in 1915 followed the increased demand for cell space in Northern Ontario due to the outbreak of the First World War and the resulting recession in the local economy. Crimes such as vagrancy increased greatly and the population at Burwash swelled to 180 inmates. Although a temporary wooden camp was in place at Camp 1 by late 1914, access to land gained with Laura Township and the new road to the CNR siding permitted further development of the interior.
In the summer of 1915 a small log camp was built on the banks of the Wanapitei River (Rocky Roost) and in late fall of 1915 work was commenced on what became the main camp along a string of small lakes approximately in the center of the whole property. Sixty prisoners were place in a tented camp on the shore of the largest lake and the construction of the first building at the Main Camp was completed on January 31, 1916.
Neilly Lake became perhaps the most notable geographic feature of the town site over the years, providing a scenic entry and vista for the town, ice for refrigeration, a means to transport logs to the planning mill and a source of recreation. Up until the late 40”s a small park, complete with rustic roofed tables, toilets, change rooms, storage shed and a small sand beach provided a picnic and swimming area below the hill opposite the store and adjacent to the “Royal York” single men’s quarters.
The beach fell into disuse, in part because the lake bottom was apparently dynamited in a fruitless search for a drowned goboy, who later turned up in good heath in Toronto. However, abandoning the lake for Rocky Roost and, thanks to a new bridge and road, Millard Lake, was more likely due to Nealy Lake becoming the final destination of the effluent from the waste water and sewage systems constructed above the Mill and next to the quarry. Curiously enough, as the swimmers went elsewhere fishing increased dramatically thanks to a voracious breed of pike, slightly smaller than a Muskie that seemed to flourish in great numbers without any apparent source of other aquatic prey or nutrients.
#6
A log building was built at Camp 5 in 1917 to provided shelter for 15 men and staff engaged in winter logging operations. A cable ferry was used to cross the Wanapitei River and logging operations were eventually extended to Millard Lake.
The camp was rebuilt in 1925 to better accommodate single guards and 125 inmates building roads, clearing land and working in forestry, farming and construction. The wood frame buildings included shops, powerhouse, auditorium, dining room, dormitory and offices. The separate guard’s quarters, with it’s cream siding and darker trim, and within sight of the river, had the feel of a sportsman’s lodge. A hallway beyond the large sun porch entry passed through the central commons room, complete with pool table and oak Morris chairs, and continued further to the individual rooms for the residents.
On June 8, 1960, 400 guests and dignitaries attended the opening of a “new” Camp Bison. The $2.6 million dollar complex had capacity for 210 inmates in separate rooms with private washrooms and included a butcher shop and bakery to serve the entire institution.
Superintendent J. Heddle hosted the reception, Rev. E. D. Leigh and Brigadier MacInnis led prayers and Fr. Campeau provided blessings while admonishing the fact that the inclusion of a chapel had been overlooked. J.R. Elliott, retired Farm Manager and W.L. McJanett, former Superintendent, also attended.
The name “Bison” was in recognition of the Wood Buffalo that roamed the Burwash property and were often sited in the Camp 5 area. In the 30’s specimens were transported to Sudbury from Western Canada as part of a city event and later set free at Burwash. Elk were also often seen at Camp 5 into the 60’s. Ontario’s elk population was almost wiped out by the early 1900s but were reintroduced at Burwash between 1930 and 1950 when elk were brought to the farm from Alberta. Elk have since been reintroduced once again through the Elk Restoration Program.
#7
The inmate population doubled in 1916 when the Guelph Reformatory was converted into a veteran hospital and rehabilitation center and 200 men were transferred to Burwash. By November 1917, 355 men were in custody; 143 at Camp 1,150 at Camp 2 and the remaining 62 at bush camps 3, 4 and 5.
The nature and purpose of Camp 1 remained relatively unchanged throughout the years. In 1917 the main building contained an office, dining area, dormitory and a single guards’ quarters. There was a four-room house for the senior guard and an icehouse, root house and stables supported ongoing operations. As camp 1 was the entry point for new inmates there was also a fumigation building. Like Camp 5, transportation was limited and the administration depended upon single guards who lived on site. The farming operation included work horses, beef cattle and crops.
Although a large herd of sheep was kept at Camp 1 into the 50’s, sheep were phased out of the farming program because of high maintenance and care requirements.
Two of the bush camps were later abandoned. Camp 3, two miles north of the pump house on the Wanapitei River, later know as "Rocky Roost", had a main building and a cookhouse. A gang of 15 inmates would walk out from Camp #2 on a daily basis. The two log buildings remained visible as late as the 60's. In the 40's and 50's families would travel by boat from the pump house to a small beach on the opposite shore to picnic and swim.
Camp 4 had one building to accommodate 40 men clearing land and logging between Camps 1 and 2. The road heading NW at the bottom of the Camp 1 hill leads to the fields they cleared. The inmates would walk back to the main camp each Sunday to shower with hot water and to exchange clothing.
#8
The following is a summary of information provided on the “Pioneer Museum” Website - Iroquois Falls, Monteith Centre, regarding the Monteith Correctional Centre.
In 1914 the Ontario government built a demonstration farm at Monteith to develop agricultural methods suited to the north. The facility included an administration building that accommodated classrooms that were used to teach these farming practices to settlers migrating to the region. At the end of the 1st war returning veterans intent on farming took instruction at the briefly named “Soldiers and Sailors Training School”.
In 1920 the school building was converted to a boarding Academy for boys and girls while the farm continued to operate as a government resource to the local farming industry. The Academy closed in 1935 and remained empty until 1937 when the brick school building was transformed into a jail and reopened as a branch of Burwash Industrial Farm.
In 1939 it was closed and the property was handed over to the Federal Government to serve as an internment camp for prisoners of war. A hospital, cookery, and huts were built for 4,000 prisoners. The POW camp closed in 1946 and was returned to the Ontario government, which then established the Monteith Industrial Farm.
Ontario inherited the POW (prisoner of war) “huts” when the Monteith property was returned by the Federal Government. An architect was assigned to convert the buildings for other purposes, such as shops and training classes at the Guelph Reformatory and instructor and student accommodation at the Dorset Forestry School. A number were shipped to Burwash where the arrival of this “new” housing by CNR flatcar at Farmlands coincided with the increased demand for family housing. The single story buildings were installed on each side of the main street on the hill beyond the recently built duplexes and apartment buildings in the square. Some of the relocated buildings were used for the expansion of the public school. All were covered in John Mansfield siding.