Espanola, Ontario

{{Infobox settlement

On January 21, 1910, a Canadian Pacific Railway passenger train derailed off a trestle {{Convert|10|km|mi}} east of Espanola. Forty-three people died from the railcar's {{Convert|27|ft|m|adj=on}} plunge into the icy water of the Spanish River. It was one of the CPR's worst railway accidents.

In 1927, Abitibi Power and Paper Company acquired the Spanish River Pulp and Paper Mills from Mead,{{sfn|Karn|2010|p=4}} in a transaction that was subsequently seen to be highly overvalued{{sfn|Karn|2010|p=5}} and having a conflict of interest that was ultimately detrimental to Abitibi's shareholders.{{sfn|Karn|2010|p=4}} Changing economic conditions brought on by the Great Depression forced the closure of the Spanish River facility in 1929.{{sfn|Boothman|1994|p=30}}

Espanola became a ghost town until the Second World War, when the mill site became a camp for German prisoners of war. During the final years of the Hepburn government, it sought to stimulate employment in Northern Ontario in order to stabilize its political position.{{sfn|Boothman|1994|p=30}} In that regard, it encouraged negotiations between Abitibi and the Kalamazoo Vegetable Parchment Company of Parchment, Michigan, which resulted in the sale of Abitibi's Spanish River facility (at that time its largest non-economic asset) in 1943.{{sfn|Boothman|1994|p=30}} It subsequently resumed operation as the KVP Company, producing specialty kraft paper.

In 1948, KVP was sued for nuisance in allowing noxious effluent to be discharged into the Spanish River, and an injunction was issued barring it from making any further discharge.[3] The order was appealed all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada without success.[4] In 1950, the injunction was dissolved by an Act of the provincial legislature, which provided for any subsequent disputes with KVP to be taken to arbitration,[5] which, together with other legislative changes,[6] effectively curtailed chances for any further injunctions to be issued. The 1950 Act was not repealed until 2006.[7]

The 1950 Act effectively gave KVP a limited licence to pollute, and serious cleanup efforts did not happen until the 1980s.[8]

In 1966 KVP was bought by Brown Forest Industries, a division of Charles Bluhdorn's industrial conglomerate Gulf and Western Industries. The Brown Forest Industries operation was later sold to E.B. Eddy, who operated the mill until June 1998. As of 2023, the plant was owned by Domtar, and at the time was the town's largest employer. In September 2023, Domtar announced that it intended to shut down the mill.[9]

Espanola got some negative press in the early 1980s when the mill accidentally discharged toxic effluent into the Spanish River, killing fish by the thousands. The spill acted like a flush, and when the fish came back a few years later, they were reportedly untainted and thriving, although the toxic smell still remained. Now the mill is said to be one of the most stringent "zero-emissions" pulp bleaching processes in the world {{Citation needed|date=May 2014}}, and the area below the Spanish River Dam is a designated fish sanctuary.

name = Espanola
official_name = Town of Espanola
settlement_type = Town (single-tier)
other_name =
native_name =
nickname =
motto =
image_skyline = Espanola Ontario.JPG
image_caption = Spanish River and Domtar mill in Espanola
image_map =
mapsize =
map_caption =
pushpin_map = Canada Ontario
pushpin_mapsize =
pushpin_label_position = top
subdivision_type = Country
subdivision_name = Canada
subdivision_type1 = Province

Recent history

Espanola was officially incorporated as a town on March 1, 1958.

The 1969 CBC Television series Adventures in Rainbow Country was filmed near Espanola, near the small First Nations community of Birch Island and at Whitefish Falls. The series starred Lois Maxwell, the actress who played "Miss Moneypenny" in Bond films such as Dr. No and Goldfinger. Canadian-born, she was a long-time resident of the town.

In 2001, a group of volunteers staged a fundraiser for the local hospital by attempting to set a world record for the world's longest ice hockey game. They were successful, playing for over three days straight. The record was broken in April 2004 in nearby Sudbury, where the teams played for six hours longer. Currently, the record holders are team Hope and team Cure from Sherwood Park near Edmonton, Alberta, who played for 250 hours (10 days).[10]

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Espanola had a population of 5,185 living in 2,304 of its 2,450 total private dwellings, a change of NaN% from its 2016 population of 5,048. With a land area of 81 km2, it had a population density of in 2021.[1]

As of the 2016 census, Espanola is ethnically 87% European, 11.5% Indigenous, and 1.5% Visible Minority (mostly Chinese and South Asian).[11]

Transportation

Road

is routed through Espanola, with its junction with just to the north, across the Spanish River in Baldwin township near McKerrow. It also connects Espanola with communities to the south along the way to Manitoulin Island, reaching its land terminus at South Baymouth before continuing on the other side of Lake Huron starting at Tobermory and passing through a number of Southern Ontario communities before reaching its ultimate southern terminus of Port Dover.

Rail

Historically, Espanola was a station stop along the Algoma Eastern Railway (AER) and featured a distinctive station and water tower (built in 1911) which were similar to other AER stations such as the one in McKerrow. It marked the first major stop after the AER line turned south toward Manitoulin Island and its ultimate terminus at Little Current. After the financially troubled AER was acquired by the CPR, the portion of the line continuing south from the junction at McKerrow was maintained as the CPR Little Current Subdivision and saw regular passenger traffic, especially due to the difficulties in crossing the Spanish River before a modern highway bridge was constructed in the 1960s. In 1943, the Espanola station was served by a single southbound and single northbound passenger train per day, with a travel time of just over two hours to Sudbury.

Public services

Espanola's three primary schools, A.B. Ellis Public School, Sacred Heart School (Roman Catholic), and École St. Joseph (French Roman Catholic), and two secondary schools, Espanola High School and École secondaire catholique Franco-Ouest, service the local students, as well as those from surrounding communities such as Massey, Webbwood, McKerrow, Nairn Centre, Willisville, Whitefish Falls, Walford and Birch Island.

In 1999 a modern recreation complex was constructed, replacing the aging arena and community swimming pool. In addition, Espanola has a public library.

Sports

Ringette

The town is where the first experimental rules for the Canadian sport of Ringette were drafted in 1963 at the Espanola Arena by Mirl Arthur "Red" McCarthy using a group of local high school girls who had played ice hockey during gym classes at the Espanola High School.[19][20]

Ice hockey

Espanola has had four Junior A hockey teams throughout the town's history. The first was the Espanola Screaming Eagles which were founded in 1962 in the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey Association and won the league title the same year. The team moved to the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League in 1972 when the NOJHA disbanded and stayed there until 2003 when the team relocated to Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan where they are now known as the Soo Eagles in the same league.

The town's second team was the

Media

Radio

Other radio station signals are received out of Manitoulin Island, Elliot Lake and Sudbury.

Defunct Radio stations

AM 930 CKNS - Launched on October 2, 1976.[22][23] Left the air to be replaced by CKNR-FM in 1997.
AM 1240 CBLP - Launched as a local community-owned radio station in September 1971[24][25]

In popular culture

Espanola is a pivotal location in The Marrow Thieves, a young adult novel written by Cherie Dimaline.

Notable people and residents

Art Gauthier, professional hockey player.
Leo Lamoureux, professional hockey player.
Al Secord, professional hockey player.
Mirl Arthur "Red" McCarthy became the co-founder of the sport of ringette in 1963 while he was the area's recreation director.
Greg Duhaime, record-setting Canadian steeplechaser.
Jim Gordon, former mayor of Sudbury, politician.
Lois Maxwell, played Miss Moneypenny in the James Bond films and starred in Adventures in Rainbow Country.

Bibliographies

Economic history

(Section 14: Business History)

External links

References

{{SCref |year=2021 |unit=csd |code={{#property:P3012}} |access-date=2025-01-07}}^
tags--> }} Espanola (2021 population census 5,185) is a town in Northern Ontario, Canada, in the Sudbury District. It is situated on the Spanish River, approximately 70 km west of downtown Sudbury, and just south of the junction of Highway 6 and Highway 17. The town is where the first experimental rules for the sport of ringette were created in 1963 by Mirl Arthur "Red" McCarthy using a group of local high school girls. Today, Espanola is considered "The Home of Ringette" while North Bay, Ontario, is considered "The Birthplace of Ringette" though the title is often shared by both. The name "Espanola" has been attributed to a story which dates back to the mid-18th century. The story goes that a First Nations Ojibwa tribe met a man who had travelled far from Spain. The Spanish man, named Frise Espagnol, married a local Anishinaabe (First Nations) of a family living near the mouth of the river and he taught her and their children to speak Spanish. Later, when the