Our Shared Legacy
People today know Lost Channel as a place of leisure and relaxation nestled in a wilderness paradise. However, the history of this area extends far beyond beautiful landscapes and recreation. The story of Lost Channel is rooted in the last great logging boom at the turn of the last century. It is a story of a rise, a fall, and a rebirth in Ontario's near north.
Beginnings
Lost Channel’s unusual name came about when “Black Jack” Kennedy accidentally boomed timber in a little bay which he named Lost Channel. A small dock, a steamboat named Douglas, and warehouse, owned by Captain Edgar Walter, serviced the area for all travellers, jobbers, and log drivers.
A Town is Born
Things began to pick up in 1914, when the Lauder, Spears and Howland Company built a small sawmill near the water site. Transportation through the bush trail to the nearest railway siding was difficult and hazardous, to say the least. There was only one way to move the lumber. They hauled it along a rough tote road to the siding at Mowat, some 20 kilometres south. In order to remain competitive, the company decided to build a small rail line. They planned to connect it to the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) mainline at the Pakesley Siding, located 16 kilometres west. They drew up plans for the Key Valley Railway and began the construction in 1914,
First Troubles
Unfortunately the Howland Company ran out of money before they were able to complete the rail line. Financial problems forced them to sell the mill and all the timber limits. The new owner was the Schroeder Mills and Timber Company, an American firm based in Wisconsin. The head of Canadian operations was James Ludgate. Ludgate went on to establish his own mill in a nearby community that went on to bear his name.
The Town Expands
Schroeder Mills continued the expansion efforts and went on to complete the Key Valley Railway. They built an entirely new worker’s village that included new bunkhouses, a dozen cabins for workers with families, a school, a small hospital, cookery and a general store. They added another 35 homes later. However time was running out. Serious depletion of the timber limits by 1927 determined the mill was no longer economical to operate. Schroeder sold out to James Playfair who changed the company name to the Pakesley Lumber Company. Playfair switched operations to concentrate mainly on hemlock, spruce and jack pine.
Rapid Decline
When the depression struck, Pakesley Lumber Co. decided to continue to operate and ride out the market slump. With more than 40,000,000 board feet (12,000,000 m) of seasoned lumber stockpiled at Pakesley, the mill was forced to shut down in 1933. The stock was sold off at less than wholesale prices. The mill was dismantled and sold and the rails of the Key Valley Railway were lifted in 1935.
A New Lease on Life
Over time Lost Channel's buildings fell into ruin as workers and their families moved away to seek employment elsewhere. One by one, structures were reclaimed by the forest. However, the old bunkhouse remained. Following WW2, Ontario's north slowly became a major destination for those who sought vacations in the peace and tranquility that it had to offer. Lost Channel, no longer a functioning townsite, emerged as one of the major access points to the wilderness of the Kawigamog and the Pickerel River systems. A series of cabins were built near the old Bunkhouse, ideally suited for families, fishermen, hunters and adventurers
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Word Gets out
By the 1970's, the wilderness recreation craze had come into effect and people all over the Province began to look for more permanent alternatives to their busy urban lives. Word had spread that the Provincial Government was looking to sell plots of land in the north to people who wished to build cottages. Seemingly overnight, the Pickerel river system became a hive of building activity and the seasonal population great. Lost Channel became one of the major access points to get to these cottages and business expanded.
Expansion
As time went on the demand for recreational space increased and the new owners of Lost Channel began to clear space for people to permanently park RV trailers in the area behind the old Bunkhouse. In time, more than 30 sites were cleared.
Full Service
In the years leading up to the turn of this century, Lost Channel continued to be a hive of activity. The Bunkhouse was refurbished and turned into a restaurant and store. A marina was opened for the many cottagers who had water access-only cottages, and the trailer park continued to expand. Once a destination for lumber and natural resources, Lost Channel had evolved into a destination for recreation for young and old alike.
Standing the Test of Time
Despite all the changes that have taken place over the last century, reminders of Lost Channel's important heritage still exist. Ruins, crumbling walls, and concrete pedestals mark to location of the old sawmill; a reminder of our shared heritage. Of the more than 35 Houses and buildings that once stood on the townsite, only the Bunkhouse, an old steam boiler in the waters of the cove, and concrete ruins of a storehouse/office remain as a lasting reminder that peoples' main purpose here used to be work and not play.
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Today
Lost Channel is alive and well. With everything going on at the Marina and Trailer Park, combined with all of the activity in the cottages that are nearby, it is hard to imagine that this area is still considered a ghost town. It is here where our shared past meets the present and looks ahead to a bright future for generations to come. What will be the mantra for the future chapters of history that have yet to be written? For now, the sounds of the buzzing of saws and whistles of locomotives have been replaced with the humming of boat motors and cheers of family fun as Lost Channel continues to be at the centre of recreation and exploration on the Pickerel River system.