Marie and I now live in Thunder Bay, Ontario. Although we haven’t lived in Atikokan for over twenty years, whenever I go there it still feels like home.
Charles Dobie has a wonderful website
http://freepages.history.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cdobie/atikokanindex.htm of early photos of Atikokan.
This railroad trestle spans the Atikokan River in Atikokan, Ontario.
These trestle legs support the railroad trestle over the Atikokan River.
St. Patrick's Catholic Church, Atikokan, Ontario gleams in the morning light on a cold January morning.
This railroad trestle in Atikokan, Ontario crosses a small creek near the Golf Course.
The Atikokan Hotel, built in 1937, has been refurbished into a hotel, restaurant and bar. (HDR image)
It is near the end of the day for this aging CNR caboose on the railroad tracks in Atikokan, Ontario.
Planning for canoe trips into Quetico Park and fly-in fishg trips north of Atikokan has been conducted here at Canoe Canada for over thirty years. (HDR image)
In 1950, Walt Beyak cleared spruce from the lot to build this store. It has been a family business that personifies Atikokan hospitality since then.
Wetfoot Lake lies along the northern edge of Atikokan. (HDR image)
Atikokan means caribou bones in Ojibwa and this caribou antler, almost 12,000 years old was found by Charlie Brooks buried in silt at the bottom of Steep Rock Lake just north of Atikokan. More about this antler can be found in the article 'Ice Age Journey.'
Atikokan, Ontario is the "Canoe Capitol of Canada" and it is only fitting that carbon fibre, kevlar, fiberglass, wood canvas and birchbark canoes are made in town.
Legion Point - on the centre right of the photo - is an oxbow of the Atikokan River. Main Street is in the bottom right of the photoand the high school is in the upper left corner.
Main Street runs from the bottom of image to near the top on the right side of this 2007 photo.
The gas station that was at the end of Main Street has been demolished.
The Atikokan River twists and turns through the town. Unexpected species, such as American Elm, are found along the banks of the river.
Mercury Avenue curves around the top of the photo.
O'Brien Street heads North out of Atikokan.
Lone Pine section of Atikokan with Mud Lake in upper left.
The Historical Park on Legion Point has a collection of heavy equipment from the early logging, mining and railroad days near Atikokan.
This image of artifacts from the Golden Winner Mine is from three images (HDR image) rather than the single image in the previous photo.
This Shevlin-Clarke locomotive on Legion Point is one of the few left in Canada. (HDR image)
OH MY OH MY!!
Atikokan sure does look good from the air.
I love the snakey river, after all there’s no beauty in a straight line.
Huh~ never heard of the Golden Winner mine…
and your Little Falls photo can’t be beat. I’ve tried!!
Awesome talent Jon.
Cheers, Janice
Hi Jon
Amazing… Amazing. Love everyone of them. Makes me even more proud of our Atikokan! Your perspective is wonderful, thank you for creating this body of work.
I can imagine how new medium transposing your photographs to metal would create a 3D effect. I have a hard time selecting a favourite.
I would love to promote these for sale in Atikokan ~ Quetico Trading Post. I will send my request in a separate email.
Keep up the great work my friend.
Val Fraser
Hi Jon,
I really enjoyed the pics that you took…especially the ones of Little Falls. I moved away from Atikokan many years ago, but still cosider the beauty of it as one compared to that of scenic British Columbia. Keep up the work as I always tune into the aTIKOKAN WEBSITE…aDIOS
We left Atikokan for good in 1975 but the town still has strong ties of friendships for us that have endured throughout the years. In retrospect, the education that we received in Atikokan in the 60’s was of the highest calibre and was equal or better than the high schools of the major centres of Ontario. We were lucky and didn’t know it! Those formative years in an isolated town fomented6 very special, long-lasting friendships.
The five years of french lessons with Mary Shaw gave my wife and I the fundamentals to learn other languages as we travelled and worked in other countries. Often, I and my friend John talk about our times in Atikokan as we drink a scotch whisky or two…..no ice please.
The photos of Atikokan that I see on this and other websites are poignant reminders of a time gone by that seen the emergence of the Beatles, Rolling Stones, hot cars, and a great town. The photos are good reminders of a life without the dangers of ISIS, Zika, AIDS, etc. It was a time of innocence un-recognized by us, the lucky ones of the 60’s.