McGarry, Ontario


McGarry is an incorporated township in Timiskaming District in Northeastern Ontario, Canada.
The township includes the communities of Virginiatown and Kearns. It is on the border with Quebec to the east, along Highway 66 between Kirkland Lake and Rouyn-Noranda. The northern border of the township forms part of the border between Timiskaming District and Cochrane District. Highway 66 was rerouted in 2017 because of concerns that aging mine shafts under the road could cause it to collapse.
J.T. Kearns staked a claim in 1907, which became the Chesterville Gold Mines. An shaft connected 20 levels, and its 500-ton stamp mill produced a total of 458,880 ounces of gold. Virginiatown and North Virginiatown were built to house the Kerr Addison workers. Kerr Addison Gold mines started in 1936, and employed 1,456 people by 1959. Annual production was 500,000 ounces of gold from 1957 to 1961, and, in 1960, it produced the most gold in the Western Hemisphere. The 10,000,000th ounce of gold was produced in 1982. However, production reduced to 47,211 ounces in 1984 from a workforce of 329. The renamed Kerr Mine produced 15,350 ounces in 1993, and 22,000 ounces in 1994.

History

In 1906, the discovery of silver deposits in Cobalt began slowing down, forcing prospectors and miners to venture further north. Some traveled the water systems up the Blanche River to Tomstown by steamboat, challenged the portages to Wendigo Lake and braved the river with nine portages to "Larder Lake". Some traveled another 25 miles fighting the underbrush and many carry-overs.
In the fall of 1906, gold was found on the northeast arm of Larder Lake by Robert Reddick. Word spread quickly, setting the stage for a new township and the beginning of a gold rush.
Tom Pearl built a trading post near the narrows of Larder Lake which the locals today refer to as "Pearl Beach" in his memory.
In 1910, a dentist from Toronto named George A. MacKay used financial aid from his brothers to bring up claims as Tonene Old Indian Mining Company. The ambitious McKay wooed prospective shareholders from Toronto, transporting them in luxurious train coaches. He successfully sold many shares that year to enthusiastic investors enabling him to buy even more claims. Included in these claims were two claims that two medical doctors, Louden and Addison, along with Hugo Kerr had owned.
MacKay was very focused in finding gold. With some struggles, coupled with pressure from his stakeholders, Chesterville and Kerr Addison mines were in full production by 1937. They were attracting people from all over, forming two economically booming towns named Virginiatown and Kearns, which are now combined to be the Township of McGarry.

Economy

The McGarry economy has historically been supported by the mining industry, and continues to be today. The Armistice Gold mine was purchased by Bonterra Resources from Kerr Resources in 2016, and gold exploration and modelling was done to update the resource to a 43-101 Compliant Resource.
Gold Candle Ltd. and investors purchased the old Chesterville Gold Mines and Kerr Addison Gold Mines property in 2016, and conducted a feasibility study and gold exploration with Canadian Exploration Services Limited on the old Chesterville Gold Mines and Kerr Addison Gold Mines property.
Several small businesses are operated out of McGarry.

Tourism

Summer

Larder Lake

Larder Lake is popular among anglers, and has an annual fish derby.

Mount Cheminis

Hiking trails go to the summit of Mount Cheminis for a view of McGarry and the surrounding area.

Country Jamboree

Hosted annually on Labor Day Weekend, various country artists flock to the McGarry community center to play music and dance with family and friends.

Winter

McGarry is near the Kanasuta Ski Hill. Every winter, the McGarry Volunteer Firefighters Association has a snowmobile poker run.

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce robbery

The Kerr Addison Gold Mine was one of the most productive gold mines in North America and employed over 1,000 of the town. On December 21, 1972, masked thieves targeted the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce on the miners' payday. The armed men burst inside the bank and demanded the considerable amount of money. Witnesses driving by alerted the local police. However, the tires of the police vehicles were slashed, slowing down the police. David Mann, a World War II veteran who fought in the Dieppe Raid, ran a service station nearby and witnessed the raid. He loaded his.303 hunting rifle and attempted to shoot at the masked men, with one bullet hitting a porch. The getaway driver took off and left his partners behind. The men inside grabbed the bank manager, Bob Emmell, and used him as a "human shield" to prevent being shot by the vigilante. The men walked in the middle of the street with Emmell in front of them. They stopped two sledders and stole both of their snowmobiles. The three men fled to the nearby town of Kearns, now part of the McGarry township, and up the hill towards the Quebec border, it is speculated that the thieves took a detour into the woods to avoid detection from the police that were coming from Rouyn-Noranda. The three men were never discovered.
A threatening letter was mailed to David Mann, who had attempted to help the police with the robbery. The letter said that Mann should move out of the town or he would be killed. Mann told close friends about the situation but never reported anything to the police before moving out one week later to Kirkland Lake, a town approximately 30 kilometers east. After a few years, Dave returned to Virginiatown and started working in the Kerr Addison Gold Mine, where he had a successful career. He was promoted to underground captain, a position he held until his retirement in 1985.

Demographics

Private dwellings, excluding seasonal cottages: 294
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