TURNING 100

Township of Gillies Celebrates Milestone

You couldn’t be blamed for casting an envious eye westerly to the Township of Gillies, whose 474 residents enjoy a best-of-both-worlds, affordable lifestyle in a bucolic setting within an easy 40-kilometre drive of the bigcity amenities of Thunder Bay.

Stories and Memories of Our Past: 100 Years 1920–2020 is a book that chronicles the history of the township and celebrates the centennial of its incorporation. Funded by the Township of Gillies municipal council and built upon research and interviews conducted by summer students in 2010 and 2011, its journey from idea to bound-and-printed completion took more than a decade. At 550 pages, richly illustrated with period photographs gleaned from family albums and museums, its scope is both extensive and comprehensive. “It’s a huge undertaking, one that we’re really proud of,” says Karen Caren, a member of the history book working group and a fourth generation Gillies resident. “It’s a really great look at the area from the late 1800s right through to today and what the community has gone through.”

The settlement’s origins in the silver mines that opened along the Silver Mountain Road in the middle of the 19th century, the Port Arthur, Duluth and Western Railway, the sawmills and bush camps based on a plentiful supply of white pine, and the clearing of land for farming the “good old Gillies clay” are documented. Chapters detail such diverse topics as schools, churches and cemeteries, sports clubs and organizations, events and celebrations, health care, transportation, and industry.

At the heart of the book are the personal episodes from the lives of its residents past and present, and the care that was taken in their presentation. “We really wanted the stories to be in the family’s voice,” says Caren, adding that this was “to make sure that it was their story, it was them telling it.” Therein, perhaps, lies the greatest impact of the book. “What I found was really amazing,” says Caren upon reviewing the stories, “were all the connections: who married who, who was related to who, where everybody lived, the sense of community and everybody helping each other.”

The book will be launched Labour Day weekend in conjunction with the Hymers Fall Fair. The first printing is limited to 300 large-format copies and can be reserved in advance by contacting the Township of Gillies Municipal Office.