$60.00 CAD
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Early winter photo of the first buildings in the Northern Ontario mining community of Kelso. It was location of the Alexo nickel mine in Dundonald Township, Cochrane district, 25 miles NE of Timmins.
Alex Kelso discovered the Alexo deposit in 1907. The nearby Alexo Mine (1912-1919) was an open pit and underground mine that yielded high grade nickel ore, some of which was used in the 1914-1918 war effort.
Written on negative “222” TOWNSITE
Building in foreground is Gleason's Restaurant.
Publisher name on back Mac Lean Photo, Haileybury, Ont.
French description on back :
“Le village (4 maisons) de la Station 222 Millage Post. Le nom de ce village est maintenant Kalso"
The village (4 houses) of Station 222 mileage post. The name of the village is now Kalso.
Some light creases, smudges on front top, smudging and stains on back.
The original Porcupine Trail stretched from Temiskaming and Northern Ontario Railway (T&NO) mileage 222 (at Kelso which once boasted a population of 3,000) to Frederickhouse Lake. The trail was abandoned in 1911 when the railroad was completed to Timmins.
Alex MacLean is pioneer photographer whose work is an invaluable record of Haileybury's early development from its beginning, through the devastation left by the Great Fire of 1922 and its rebirth. He also photographed extensively in the Temagami region, documenting the natural beauty and appeal of northern Ontario. MacLean's photographs are important documents for historians and researchers.
Alex MacLean was born in Bryson Quebec. Here he learnt woodworking and later made many of his own cameras. In 1903 the Canadian Pacific Railway commissioned him to take photographs throughout the west. The 1922 Great Fire destroyed this collection of early photographs. MacLean came north to Haileybury in 1907. He was hired by mining companies in north-eastern Ontario to photograph underground and above-ground.
