Hornepayne is a township of 980 people in the Algoma District of Ontario, Canada. The town was established in 1915 as Fitzback when the Canadian Northern Railway's transcontinental line was built through the area. It was renamed Hornepayne in 1920 after British financier Robert Horne-Payne.
Demographics
Population:
Population in 2011: 1,050
Population in 2006: 1,209
Population in 2001: 1,362
Population in 1996: 1,480
Population in 1991: 1,610
Mother tongue:* English as first language: 78.3%
French as first language: 16.3%
English and French as first language: 0%
Other as first language: 5.4%
Economy
Hornepayne serves as a railway divisional point on the main Canadian National Railway line. The forestry industry is the major employer to the local economy. Hunting- and fishing-related tourism in the area is served by several small companies. The township of Hornepayne has been the proposed site of a low level nuclear waste storage facility for some time. The town's community liaison group chose to withdraw from this development in the early 1990s, but as of May 2010 the township is still being considered for nuclear waste management/storage.
Geological history
Hornepayne is situated in the Horseshoe of Rock, which forms the Pre-Cambrian area, which surrounds Hudson Bay. It is the oldest rock in the world, containing the famous Keewatin Greenstone. Massive Granite intrusions, of which Tank Hill is a good example, is the predominate rock in the area Greenstone can be found six miles north along highway 631 and in numerous bands along Government Lake Road. Volcanoes were numerous, and specimens of their eruptions in the soil today. The Pre-Cambrian was covered by at least three Ice Ages which, with glaciers miles high, bulldozed the mountains away just as a bulldozer today would level a small hill. The rock and earth were moved as far south as Wisconsin. Evidence of glacial scratches can be found on Tank Hill. The sand hills near Cedar Point are eskers left by the Glaciers. Boulders, small rocks, and clay, are scattered throughout the area, part of the glacial wash. A typical volcanic core is to be found about five miles north. The highway runs through it. Samples of Volcanics, such as garnets, surpentine, and rhyolite, can be found. Most of the Pre-Cambrian is covered by a thin layer of organic soil and clay. Hornepayne is approximately eight miles north of the height of land. Drainage is poor in the area, which has many muskeg swamps.
Gordon Lightfoot's song "On the High Seas" mentions Hornepayne with the following lyric "Was it up in Hornepayne, where the trains run on time?"
Hornepayne was featured on an episode of Survivorman with Les Stroud and a slew of NHL hockey players.
Climate
Hornepayne experiences a subarctic climate, typical in Northern Ontario, with cold winters and generally warm summers. Winter usually begins around Halloween, lasting way into March, though wintry days can sometimes be experienced even later in the season. Snowfall is abundant, starting to fall usually sometime in October, and keeps falling into April, with snowfalls in May not uncommon.
