2016 Ontario Sunset Country Travel Guide 2016 Ontario's Sunset Country Travel Guide | Page 23

Fort Frances is the oldest European Quetico Park was unknowingly
settlement west of Thunder Bay
saved by careless soldiers
Pierre Gaultier de Varennes
came to Canada in the early 18th century in search of
a lucrative fur trade that he
could call his own. In 1731
he built Fort Saint Pierre
near what is now Fort
Frances before moving
westward to Lake of the
Woods in 1732. Following
the border-defining war of
1812, the Hudson Bay Company built a Fort named for
Frances Simpson, wife of a
the Hudson’s Bay, governor who paid frequent visits to the area.

Surveys around Atikokan
began as early as the
1870s. During this time,
over 30 surveys were conducted, 75% of which were
in Quetico area, and found
that there was potential
for logging the massive
pines. However, upon
further investigation, the
barren shores of neighbouring lakes showed that
almost 1/6 of the total area
had been previously been destroyed by the passing troops. Timber lords moved elsewhere for better quality, more sustainable
lumber, inadvertently saving the future of Quetico.

Ear Falls’ name means literally
what you might think it does

Ignace is a junction point for the
most northern official highway

Three versions of the story are officially archived at the Ear Falls
museum, though the overall meanings are similar. In one version
of the story, it’s said that the ancestral Ojibwa people believed
that the spirit of a giant beaver lived in between the upper and
lower falls. According to legend, you could see the giant ears
of the beaver rise and fall through the foam of the falls when it
would swim, hence the name ‘Ear Falls’ was adopted.

The original intention of the road was for it to act as a supply
route for the booming gold mines in the Pickle Lake Region. The
road was assumed by the Department of Highways and was officially named Highway 599 in 1956. The most unique feature of the
route is that it didn’t physically connect to the rest of Ontario’s
Highway system. Today the 360 kms highway connects the northern communities of Pickle Lake and Savant Lake to the grid.

Emo is home to the smallest
church in the world

The longest street in the world
ends in Rainy River

Built by two local men in
1973, the Norlund Chapel’s
interior measures only 8
feet across by 10 feet tall;
making it the smallest
operational church in the
world. A house of respite
and worship, the church is
open to the public and can
accommodate 8 visitors at
a time. The church's steeple was salvaged from a
fire in 1971 and is complete
with a 6 foot tall, solid iron
cross that was built by a local blacksmith in 1935. It is located
right along Highway 11.

When you hear Yonge
Street you probably think
downtown Toronto, but
Yonge Street actually has
the distinction as being
the longest street in the
world. It starts at Lake
Ontario and runs north
through central and northern Ontario with its terminus at the Town of Rainy
River nearing the most
westerly end of Ontario.
The street is 1896 kms
(1178 miles) long! In 1998 the Guinness Book of World Records
recognized this as in fact the longest street.

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