BLAIRTON:
A hundred and twenty-five years ago, Blairton was a thriving mining and railroad town with eleven streets and some 500 souls. Drive west of Marmora on Hwy. 7 for 7 kilometres to the Blairton Road. Two kilometres to the north lies the town site. At the intersection is the foundation of the former store. A little further on Blairton Road, before reaching Cole Road, a few mine era cabins still survive. Opposite them are cellar holes of hotels and stores. Take Cole Road west to the only two story company house still standing.
BURGESS:
A village of 300 flourished at Burgess during the corundum mining boom, which lasted until a new synthetic substitute “Carborundum” forced the mine to close. You can reach the site via the New Carlow Road, now called the Boulter Road. This road runs southeast off Hwy 62 a few kilometres east of Maynooth. The ore crusher peers through the birch trees while across the road stands the log remains of a storage building. Evidence of the former mining and milling activities is scattered throughout the area.
CORDOVA MINES:
Just a 10 minute drive north-west of Marmora on County Road 3 lies a hamlet, which was once a thriving mining village. Both the gold and iron mines have been closed since the 1940′s. The boarding house, butcher and barber shops, garage, and pool hall have disappeared. Of the two grocery stores, one is still in operation but the largest is empty and boarded up, a bleak reminder of better days.
CRAIGMOUNT:
Once the world’s largest producer of corundum, the ghost town of Craigmount, lies dormant in Mt. Robillard. Most buildings have long since vanished, remnants can be found in the fields and bushes. Old cement foundations can still be seen on lower side of the mountain where the concentrator, grader and boiler room were located. Two old houses remain; one presently used by hunters and a log house.
ELDORADO:
In 1866 gold was discovered in the farming community of Eldorado Ontario, bringing about 3 to 4 year rise and fall of this small town. As the rumours spread prospectors and speculators flocked to this small town causing overnight growth and a boom in the construction of 80 or more buildings. Was there gold in Eldorado, yes-small amounts did exist but no major gold was found. By the 1870s the boom was over. Most everyone left, and farming continued to be a way of life. The Central Ontario Railway operated a small terminus to service. A historical plaque marks the Hastings gold rush of the 1860s. A cheese factory which closed its doors in the 1990′s, is still selling cheese out of its store, a good place to stop & get ice cream. As well, The Trading Post, which is a combination gas station and general store, is still in operations.
GLENMORA:
First known as Jelly’s Rapids, after settler Andrew Jelly, consisting of a school, church, post office and few dwellings. When the post office opened the new name Glamire replaced the old. Glamire’s was short lived and faded in the 1860s and 70s. Glamire is 11 km north of Mill Bridge on the Old Hastings Road. All that remains of this community is the cemetery and the cement steps leading up to the vanished church. The Old Hastings Road is impassable beyond Glamire.
HYBLA:
The hamlet of Hybla once contained a railway station, stores, boarding houses, ice house stables and blacksmith shop that have all but vanished. The Zion United Church, currently over a 100 years old, was build as a Methodist church. A beautiful cemetery is located here. Hybla Gospel Tabernacle church and a few farms are all that remain of the pioneer community of Hybla. Take Hwy. 62 north from Bancroft about 11 km to the Hybla Road (on the right). Follow the road east about 2 km and you come to the Hybla Gospel Tabernacle, a small, insulbrick building almost hidden by trees and bushes, but close to the road on it’s north side. Continue on the Hybla Road another 3.5 km and you come to a T in the road, turn left 3 km down the road, on the north side the Zion United Church stands. The small train station is now the residence of the Woodcox family.
MAYNOOTH STATION:
Not really a ghost town, the hamlet is worth visiting to view the impressive, but abandoned train station. This station is unique in that it is a poured concrete structure. McAlpine House operated as a combination boarding house and hotel in the early 1900′s. The building has been lovingly restored, and retains the pressed metal ceilings so popular ninety years ago. Maynooth Station is 2 km north of Maynooth, on the right hand of Hwy. 62.
MILL BRIDGE:
Mill Bridge is the closest to the popular image of a ghost town. Take Hwy. 62 north from Madoc about 21 km to the Mill Bridge Road (on your left). Built in 1860′s, this is part of the Old Hastings settlement road. The hapless settlers tried to farm from the rocky soil have long since fled. Take the road about 3 km to the empty St. Oswalds Anglican Church, continue on down the main street to the former store and hotel (both now residences) the abandoned church, school, and community hall, and the cellar holes.
MILL BRIDGE STATION:
Millbridge Station is worth a side trip to see Hogan’s Hotel, once the grandest building in the two communities. Take the Stoney Settlement Road east from Millbridge about 1 km east of Hwy. 62. Little else remains of the hamlet, but the abandoned rail bed is clearly visible.
MURPHY’S CORNER
Murphy’s Corner is on North Steenburg Lake Rd. Turn west from Hwy. 62 and follow the road around the lake until you reach the junction of the Old Hastings Road. Just north of that location on the Old Hastings Road you will find a hamlet called Thanet, a once thriving community.
QUEENSBORO:
Queensboro is a picturesque hamlet located 15 km to the north – east of Madoc. In the 1800′s it was a thriving village supporting two doctors, two blacksmiths, two shoe-making establishments, and two hotels. They are long gone as is the school, post office, wagon factory, the flour and saw mills, the bakery and the cheese factory. Only one of the two general stores remains. To get there, travel east on Hwy. 7, about half a kilometre, past Hwy. 62, to Country Road 12. Go left onto this good paved highway and follow it for 6 km. A small sign on the right indicates a turn off to Queensboro. Follow this twisting Country Road for 6 kilometres right into the village. As you enter, notice the abandoned red brick church on your left and just a little further on, the weathered timbers of the old blacksmith shop. You can find pieces of the concrete sidewalks, which were laid down in better times, almost 90 years earlier.
UMFRAVILLE:
In the 1860′s Irish Immigrants took up farm land, Dermot “Darby” Kavanagh and his brother Patrick moved to Lots 55 and 56, Hastings road in Dungannon Township. Darby, a born entrepreneur, chose to open a stopping place combining store and Hotel. Here the post office of Umfraville was established. Today all that is left is an abandon farm on a ridge, and a cemetery about 1.5 km away. It is estimated that as many as 100 men, women and children are buried in Umfraville cemetery, with only a dozen or so stone markers remaining. There were never any mills, churches or business section. Located in the township of Dungannon, head south on Highway 62 from Bancroft, turn right on Old Hastings Road. The cemetery is reached from a road off the Old Hastings Road, which is clearly marked.
WALLACE:
Little remains of what was once the terminus of the Central Ontario Railway. Until the late 1950′s, the C.N.R. ran a train every Wednesday to Wallace, which served the Polish settlement and local lumber companies. To get there take Hwy. 127 north out of Maynooth. Continue north on 127 to the South MacKenzie Lake Road (on the right). Stay on 127 for another 7.3 km, then turn right onto a township road, and travel east 1.3 km to the boarded-up white frame building on the left hand side. This was the community hall. Behind it lies the pioneer Polish Cemetery. Beside it, the foundations of the Roman Catholic Church, torn down in 1960, are clearly visible.